


BROKEN

by yeolallineed



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Idols, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Depression, Dissociative Identity Disorder, EXO Imagine, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Explicit Language, Fanfiction, Gang Violence, Hate to Love, Idols, Love/Hate, M/M, Physical Abuse, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Suicide Attempt, kpop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-05-02 13:34:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 50
Words: 94,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19199875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeolallineed/pseuds/yeolallineed
Summary: Baekhyun is broken. In more than one way.Chanyeol is scarred, with no purpose in life.In the battle Baekhyun is fighting within himself, he has forgotten how to love.Chanyeol was in love once, it didn't end well.Will Baekhyun, who has given up his own life be able to save Chanyeol from his drowning?Will the good-for-nothing Chanyeol be able to redeem himself while he tries to give Baekhyun a purpose?Will they be each others' savior?





	1. Chapter 1

Baekhyun woke up to his own screams.

He looked around but the only thing he could see was the darkness that engulfed his own existence.

 _Where am I?_ He wondered.

Faint flashbacks flooded his mind suddenly.

Blood... a loud thump... red hands... his own hands... a scream... a long, tiring car ride and then... darkness.

Panic struck. Baekhyun reached for air but every breath was cut short.

 _What have I done?_ Baekhyun thought. No matter how much he strained himself, he just couldn't remember what it was.

He looked around but couldn't understand where he was. Panic was creeping in slowly and he knew he would soon lose control of his own muscles. He clutched the edges of his bed with all his strength.

Frantically he looked around and saw a bottle of water on the desk near his bed.

Bed.

He was on a proper bed.

It was not a hospital bed of metal that felt cold against the skin on touch. The coldness that made him feel like he would never feel the warmth of the day ever again.

This was, he thought as he felt the rims of the wooden frame again, like he could finally sleep.

Grabbing the bottle he quenched his thirst in one go like he had been dehydrating for days.

Although the panic had curbed down a little, it did not entirely go away. He could still feel his nerves acting up because the place he was in, was unfamiliar.

Slowly, the fear crept back in. The more he thought about being stuck in that alien place, the more he feared.

He didn't want to, but all he could think was how alone he felt and how lonely the air around him was.

The moonlight lightly fazed through the window above the desk, illuminating the soft highlights of Baekhyun's cold room. His eyes roamed about, for the first time being able to see the place properly.

The room was bigger than he had expected. The last time he had woken up like this, it was a 9x9 confinement with no windows and just one door; with no knob on the inside. It was dark, darker than this room and much much colder with stale air suffocating him all the time. And in the middle of the 9x9 room was Baekhyun, caged in a straitjacket.

Baekhyun shook his head, still panting with fear. But he didn't want to open those doors of the past that were now set ajar.

He went back to eyeing his room. Somehow the vastness of the room and fresh air made him feel little at ease. On the far end from where his bed was, he could see the outline of another bed, but he wasn't too sure.

 _Who would be stupid enough to bunk with me?_ he thought. _I am alone, like always._

Alone... lonely... these were Baekhyun's only companions since he knew what these words meant.

The unpleasant feeling was reaching up from the pits of his stomach to this throat now. He felt like he might throw up. Even though this place looked different from where he last was confined in, he couldn't help but feel that it actually would be no different.

Suddenly his eyes fell on the electric switchboard and he almost let out a laugh. He was so used to being in rooms that were controlled by others that it didn't even occur to him to try and find ways to turn the lights on and get rid of the haunting darkness.

Just as he was about to get up, a voice fell on his ears. It was distant and unclear. Baekhyun couldn't quite make out what it was but he could hear the melody that was binding the incomprehensible words.

Someone was singing.

Baekhyun settled himself again and closed his eyes. The voice sounded so pure and raw that Baekhyun's uncontrolled heart now began to follow the rhythm of the song. It was something he had never heard before. But then, he cut off ties with music 5 years ago. After giving up on what he loved the most, he wasn't quite sure if there was anything left.

But as he heard the sweet melody and the voice that even tough rough around the edges, was unexpectedly soothing to hear, he found himself calming down with every verse.

Before he could realise, he was breathing normal.

This was the first good feeling he had in his 5 years of hell. For the first time he thought he would sleep without nightmares. That was what the song was doing to him.

As he turned to his bed, to finally catch some sleep, he heard another voice that startled him.

"That bastard is singing in the dead of the night again" the voice said.

Confused and startled, Baekhyun suddenly lifted himself up.

 _Where did the voice come from?_ he wondered. _It definitely was from within the room._

Before he could think, the lights turned on and a stranger in his shorts and loose tshirt stood before him, rubbing his eyes as he adjusted them to the sudden burst of light.

"I am going to kill that fucking asshole" he said, looking at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun was too shocked to say anything. Partly because first, it seemed like he had a roommate. And second because that boy was a stranger to him.

"Oh you're up" he said, looking at Baekhyun.

He just stared back, and then nodded slightly after he realised that the boy had asked him a question.

It was new. Being asked questions was new. But in a good way. He was only used to people's cold stares and hushed voices.

"Wh... who are you?" Baekhyun asked, finally gathering some sense.

The boy stared back at him, blinking multiple times.

"It's me Yixing" he said and moved to the bed to sit in front of Baekhyun. He held him by the shoulders and shook him once. "Your roommate"

Upon finding Baekhyun not acknowledging what he had said, Yixing shook him once more like he was a broken toy that could be fixed by quaking it.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

 _Are you okay... when was the last time someone asked me this? And when was the last time I replied honestly?_ Baekhyun wondered.

"I... I don't know" he replied, looking straight at Yixing, who somehow showed more care than a stranger would.

"Where am I?" Baekhyun asked "What is this place?". He panned his eyes around again and Yixing followed.

"You're in the School for Correctional Facilities" Yixing announced. "Baekhyun don't you remember anything?" he asked with a shock in his voice.

Baekhyun shook his head. Maybe it was not a big deal. He had had such episodes of memory loss before. He had had chunks of his life missing. He was used to these blank spaces in his memory. Some lasted a few hours, some for a day or two sometimes. And no matter how he tried, he never really remembered what he did. Almost always he would wake up from a sleep just like he did now and it made him believe that he probably slept during his blackouts. That was probably why he had no memory.

Yixing turned towards Baekhyun with shock painted on his face. Somewhere outside the room, the voice had stopped and the melody had come to a pleasant end.

"How could you not remember Baekhyun?" Yixing asked.

But Baekhyun simply started back at him because he didn't even know what he was supposed to remember.

"I must have been asleep all the while I was here" Baekhyun said.

Yixing looked at him in concern. "Baekhyun you've only slept when everyone else went to sleep and woke up when everyone else did. You've been here for a week."


	2. Chapter 2

_*****ONE WEEK AGO***** _

 

Chanyeol woke up in the morning with more purpose than he usually did. Life at the School for Correctional Facilities was boring. It wasn't much different from other schools, except rich parents with kids who were 'problematic' to them and the society, sent them to the school to have them set straight.

One would find all types of people there. Druggies, alcoholics, addicted to gambling, addicted to porn, addicted to sex, addicted to sex while gambling and watching porn simultaneously; even Chanyeol wasn't sure how the last one worked; then there were the depressed lot. Those addicted to hurting themselves, those who tried to kill themselves, those that were suicidal.

This school was the battleground for everything that was wrong with people these days.

He hated mostly everyone there. But he hated the suicide gang the most. Chanyeol truly believed that these lot were the filthiest, most disgusting cowards to exist.

Cowards who are selfish and do not even think of what they might do to the people they leave behind...

Chanyeol shook his head. He didn't want to think of the past. He was looking forward to today, since he came to know that there was a new student joining in.

"What are you doing up so early?" Chanyeol's roommate Luhan asked.

"We have a new kid coming in today" Chanyeol announced in his grave voice. If it were anyone else, they would note the hint of excitement in Chanyeol's voice.

"Are you going to bully the kid?" Luhan asked.

"If he gets on my nerves" Chanyeol replied.

Luhan let out a laugh. "There is no one who doesn't get on your nerves Chanyeol"

Luhan was shorter than Chanyeol and had a smaller built. Once Luhan was teasing Chanyeol which annoyed the fuck out if him and he got so mad that he flung Luhan on his shoulders and took him up to the roof.

 _"If you irritate me one more time"_ Chanyeol had said threateningly, _"I will throw you down like a piece of garbage"_

The glare in his eyes was so deadly that Luhan had almost peed his pants.

It was the same glare that Chanyeol was showing now.

Before the taller could say anything or throw him down the building, Luhan quickly scooted off the room, leaving Chanyeol alone with his thoughts.

He got up, knowing the best time to find his victim would be during lunch.

Chanyeol went into his classroom but he didn't remember what was taught since he slept through all of it.

Had it been anyone else, the teachers would have punished him for sleeping during the class. But the whole school knew how last year a teacher landed in the hospital after he tried to wake Chanyeol up and get him to focus on the class. So no one dared.

Once the first half of the classes were over, his friends came over to him.

"Let's go for lunch" Kai said in a cold voice, standing there, chewing a gum and staring down at Chanyeol.

Chanyeol could feel the ice in his voice. Ever since they stopped dating, Kai had become colder and colder with each passing day, but he would still not leave the gang because he valued the others even if he no longer gave two shits about Chanyeol.

"Yesssssss I'm starving" another voice that belong to the excessively loud Chen, called out.

Chanyeol pretended to clean his ears upon hearing that voice.

"Where are Kris and Luhan?" Chanyeol asked, looking around. Usually the five of them went to lunch together.

"They're already at the cafeteria, setting the stage for your drama" Kai hissed.

Without another word, Chanyeol got up and went to the cafeteria with them.

Upon reaching he realised that very silently and stealthily, Kris and Luhan had cleared the entire cafeteria with the students now standing in one corner. All the tables were empty except one where a scrawny kid sat, quietly eating his lunch, not even bothering about his surroundings.

"You all stay here" Chanyeol said and the others nodded.

He walked to the table where the new kid was sitting and sat at the chair opposite to him.

Chanyeol adjusted his seat to look at the boy clearly. He was wearing leather pants and topped his fitting tshirt with a leather jacket.

Chanyeol scoffed.

"Do you think this is the biker's club?" he asked loudly.

Unfortunately, he got no reply from the boy across. It was now starting to get on his nerves.

"Yah" Chanyeol said in the loudest voice he could produce. "I am talking to you bitch"

Slowly, the boy raised his head and stared right at Chanyeol.

For a second, Chanyeol forgot why he was there. The pair of eyes that stared at him were a combination of pain and confidence. He saw the black eyeliner that highlighted every feature of those pearly eyes and for a moment, he got lost.

"What did you just call me?" the boy asked and the question broke Chanyeol's concentration.

Chanyeol laughed at the guts of this boy who was already standing up to him in less than a day that he had been in the campus. Chanyeol knew he had to show him his place.

He flicked his eyebrows subtly to his friends standing behind and they quickly left, understanding what Chanyeol meant.

He turned back to the boy opposite to him.

"I called you a bitch, you bitch"

"What?" he continued. "Does me calling you bitch hurt your little bitchy feelings?"

The new boy could feel the anger rising within himself. But he tried to control. It was his first day and he didn't want to hurt anyone.

"Aww is my bitch hurt?" Chanyeol asked, mockingly.

The new kid had had enough. He hated being called a bitch. He banged his fist on the table with one loud thud and the whispering crowd went silent.

A strange smug smile surfaced on Chanyeol's lips. He knew he was winning. He loved this feeling.

"Call me a bitch one more time and..."

But before he could finish speaking, thick cold liquid washed down his head, into his face and down his clothes. The new boy stared in horror at the thick maroon fluid that had touched his skin.

The cafeteria watched as wave of shock ran down each of their faces, raising every hair on their bodies. Everyone was looking at the new kid covered in blood and the four friends of Chanyeol who were holding the bucket that they had just emptied on the kid. But none of them looked amused. If anything, they looked disgusted by it.

The new kid looked down on his hands that were now covered in red.

_Blood..._

He stared in horror as haunting flashes of his past pierced his mind.

He closed his eyes shut.

 _No_ , he said to himself. _Control yourself_.

All this while, Chanyeol was looking at him with intrigue. The boy did not cry, or show fear. He simply stared.

The new boy, still trying to be in control of his emotions and his mind, simply got up and slowly walked towards the washroom.

I will not let them win. I will not let them see me weak, he said to himself repeatedly.

 

 

Once the new boy was gone, Kai turned towards Chanyeol.

"I think it was too much" he said flat out and the others looked at him, stunned. No one had ever talked back to Chanyeol.

Looking at Kai, something rose inside of Luhan too. "Yes Chanyeol it really was a bit too much"

Chanyeol looked at them with anger in his face.

"You all agreed to this" he said in frustrated retaliation.

Chen shook his head. "No we didn't"

"That's right" Kris said. "You planned it we went along because we know how foul your temper can be. If we say no, you'd shun us and not let the others even talk to us"

Chanyeol stared at him in horror. "That's fucking bull." he said.

"No it's not and you know it too" Kai yelled. "Go and fucking apologise"

"Hah" Chanyeol scoffed. "Me and fucking apologise?" he asked. "Dream on."

"Fine then you're on your own because all four of us quit" Chen said, finally wanting to stop Chanyeol from being more destructive.

Chanyeol was now agitated at how things weren't going his way. Things ALWAYS went his way. But this new kid suddenly fucked everything up.

Even though it went against his principles to apologise, Chanyeol knew he had to because he needed these people in his life. No matter how fucked up their own lives were, they were a support to him.

"Fine" Chanyeol said, "I'll apologise."

He got up and followed the path the new kid had taken. If he had turned around once, he would see the silly smiles on the faces of his friends like they were proud of what he was doing.

When Chanyeol reached the washroom, he found the new kid trying to wash off the blood from his jacket.

Chanyeol stood and stared at him for a few seconds. He was stronger than he looked. Except for the time that he crashed his fist on the table, he seemed to be in control, not giving in to fear even once.

"Is my bitch done cleaning?" Chanyeol asked before he could think. The moment the words escaped his mouth, he knew he made a mistake.

"Liste...." he began but before he could, the new kid rushed towards him in fury and threw a strong punch on his face.

Chanyeol blacked out for a moment. The punch was at least five times stronger than what he had expected the boy could throw.

He stumbled and lost his balance. Before he could regain his senses back, he saw the boy dragging Chanyeol by his collar.

 _How does he have so much strength?_ Chanyeol thought. _The boy is smaller and thinner than me._

"Hey..." Chanyeol began but the boy had already pulled him into one of the toilet cubicles.

Just as Chanyeol thought he would be hit black and blue, the new kid pulled him by his hair and pushed his face down the toilet pot.

Holding his head in the toilet water for a few seconds, the boy pulled him up by his hair and Chanyeol gasped for air.

"Did you like that?" he asked as Chanyeol struggled to breathe.

Before he could fill his lungs, the new kid plunged his head back into the toilet again and this time, flushed it.

"MY NAME..." he said thrusting Chanyeol's head with more force than before, "...IS BAEKHYUN."

And with that, he got up and left, leaving a panting Chanyeol all to himself.

"There goes my resolution of not wanting to hurt anyone on the first day" Baekhyun said, as he exited the washroom.


	3. Chapter 3

When Yixing was done telling the events of the past week, Baekhyun couldn't believe what he was hearing.

 _How could I have gone through an entire week without having a memory of it?_ he thought.

"Do you have any recollection of it?" Yixing asked.

Baekhyun didn't want to sound stupid or odd. He could hear the concern in his roommate's voice. It felt like he finally had a friend.

Not wanting to lose it because of one stupidity, Baekhyun nodded.

"I remember some of it" he lied. "Maybe I was a little disoriented because I had just woken up and maybe I am still not used to this place."

Yixing nodded back, seemingly satisfied with the answer he heard.

"Let's just go back to sleep. We have classes tomorrow"

Baekhyun nodded and Yixing turned the lights off.

After what seemed like a few minutes Baekhyun heard his roommate again.

"Baekhyun" Yixing said, with a little apprehension in his voice.

"Hmm?" Baekhyun called back.

There was a moment of silence, like his roommate was contemplating what to say.

"Just be careful okay" he said after a while.

"Okay" Baekhyun replied and even Yixing heard the mild tone of Baekhyun's voice that was accompanied with a smile.

Baekhyun laid there on his bed, feeling better than he did before. He now had a friend. He wasn't alone anymore.

The next morning when Baekhyun woke up, he felt like he could go through the day without wanting to end his life like he usually did.

He realized that his roommate was still sleeping so he quietly got up and got himself ready.

By the time he came out of the shower and dressed himself up, Yixing has woken up.

"Good morning roomie" he said with a smile that Baekhyun noticed for the first time, dug a beautiful depression on his face.

 _Probably this is my chance at a better life,_ Baekhyun thought and returned a smile at Yixing.

"You look different without the leather stuff you usually wear" Yixing announced.

"What?" Baekhyun asked in confusion.

"What?" Yixing asked back, more confused over Baekhyun's confusion.

They stared at each other for a while, more confused than ever before until Yixing absentmindedly got up from the bed and simply walked towards the washroom, like the conversation didn't happen.

Baekhyun stared after him for a while and just turned around.

 _What just happened?_ He thought to himself. Shaking his head, he picked up his bag and headed over to the door.

Just as he turned the knob and pulled the door, the entire wooden plank came undone and landed right on top of Baekhyun as he stumbled to the floor.

Hearing the noise, Yixing rushed out to the room and saw Baekhyun pinned under the massive door, struggling to get off.

He immediately ran over and pulled the door up for Baekhyun to quickly scoot away before he released it and it fell on the floor with a loud thud.

"Fucking asshole Chanyeol I am going to kill him" Yixing said and Baekhyun just stared at the door and then at Yixing.

"Go on" Baekhyun's roommate said. "You'll be late for class"

When Baekhyun reached the classroom, he found it relatively empty. He checked his watch and it read 8am.

The class should have started by then. He took his schedule out and checked it once more.

'Math : 8am, Lecture room 9' it said.

Baekhyun waited for a few more minutes but an unsettling feeling told him something was wrong.

He ran out to the main hall to check the class schedules and it read the same as his own schedule.

 _Where is everyone?_ Baekhyun thought.

"Baekhyun" a voice called out and he immediately turned, unable to believe who it was.

"Se... Sehun?" he asked. "What are you doing here?" Baekhyun couldn't believe he was meeting Sehun after all these years. They hadn't even talked in the past 5 years.

Sehun looked at him, a little puzzled.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "I go here. You already know that"

 _What?_ Baekhyun thought to himself. _What all have I forgotten?_

"Sehun" Baekhyun said, "I need to tell you something"

"What is it?" Sehun asked, with a hint of worry in his face.

Baekhyun grabbed him by his wrist and pulled him though the door that led to the staircase.

"Are you okay?" Sehun asked when Baekhyun let go of his hand. "You even look different"

He contemplated if he should tell Sehun what was going on. He had always been a good friend to Baekhyun. He remembered how Sehun had relentlessly tried to contact him after Baekhyun suddenly vanished 5 years ago, quitting school and all the people he cared about. Sehun was one of those people.

"I... I don't know what's happening Sehun" Baekhyun finally began. "I have episodes of memory loss"

"What do you mean?" Sehun asked.

"I've had it in the past too, but it was usually short term, but last night when I woke up, I had no recollection of the entire week I had spent in this school"

Sehun looked at Baekhyun, perplexed.

"Is... Is that why you asked what I was doing here?" he asked. "Because we've had lunch together almost every day since you've been here"

Baekhyun nodded. "Yes... and I don't even remember..."

Before Baekhyun could complete his sentence, the door to the staircase flung open and a tall boy came through.

"Sehun" he said with a nod.

Sehun nodded in return.

"Who is this?" the boy asked, looking at Baekhyun.

"Who are you?" Baekhyun asked in return.

Sehun leaned in to Baekhyun's ears. "That's Chanyeol. You are not in good terms" he whispered so that only Baekhyun would hear.

Chanyeol looked at the two of them in exasperation.

"Do this homo thing in your own room, fucking faggots" he said in annoyance and realized that both Sehun and Baekhyun looked uncomfortable at his words.

He wanted to throw more insults at them but Baekhyun turned towards him with unexplainable hate in his eyes.

"So it was you who unhinged my door?" he asked, accusingly.

"What?" Chanyeol asked in confusion. "What are you talk...?"

"Wait..." Chanyeol finally said as reality dawned on him. "Baekhyun?" he asked.

Chanyeol stared at the boy in front of him. Without the heavy leather gear and eyeliner, he looked almost unrecognizable. His brown eyes had a subtle hint of mischief, but also unimaginable sadness. It was as if without the heavy load of that leathery veil, Baekhyun looked... innocent.

"Let's go" Sehun said, grabbing Baekhyun by his hands and pulling him away.

"Hey" Chanyeol called after them, "That's my bitch so you better be caref..."

By then, Baekhyun had jerked his hand away from Sehun, turned around and punched Chanyeol on his face before he could complete his sentence.

"Never call me a bitch" he said, turning around and leaving.

Chanyeol, stood there in shock, not because he had been hit, but because the intensity of the punch was almost nothing compared to the last time. It was as if the Baekhyun from now and the Baekhyun from a week ago, were two different people.


	4. Chapter 4

During lunch, Baekhyun sat at his lunch table with Sehun, who was helping him graze through the day without drawing much suspicion from others.

"Baekhyun" Sehun said, nodding his head into the direction of the door where Baekhyun could see Yixing coming towards them with four other people.

"You know Yixing, don't you?" Sehun asked and Baekhyun nodded.

"The one on Yixing's right is Suho" he said. "He's filthy rich and throws punches like he might kill"

Baekhyun made a mental note.

"The one beside Suho is Kyungsoo" Sehun continued. "He talks less and cares even lesser. No one has ever dared to cross him. Even Chanyeol's gang is scared of him"

"You see the smaller one that looks like a 14yo?" Sehun asked and Baekhyun nodded, noticing the boy who looked like he should be in Middle School. "He's Xiumin. He's the brainy one. Doesn't talk much either and is, to be honest, still a mystery to everyone"

"And finally" Sehun sighed, "There's Tao, the tallest of them all. He knows Martial Arts and would even fight with cats if he is in the mood. Doesn't use much of his brain though"

"Why are they all coming here?" Baekhyun asked.

"Because they're your friends Baekhyun" Sehun said before greeting everyone.

 _Friends_...Baekhyun thought. _As in not one, but more than one. Five to be exact. Well six if Sehun is counted._

"I have to go, take care of this one for me, will you?" Sehun asked pointing at Baekhyun and everyone nodded in agreement.

They all sat down around Baekhyun as he stared at each and every one of them. If only he could remember how they all became friends. Maybe he could ask Sehun later.

"Well what do we have here?" Chanyeol called out as he stood with his friends near where Baekhyun was sitting.

"What do you fucking want Chanyeol?" Suho asked.

"Nothing" Chanyeol said, raising his hands up. "I am just here to ask Baekhyun where he learned to throw a punch like a fucking sissy?"

Baekhyun noted how he didn't call him a bitch.

"Get a life Chanyeol" Yixing yelled. "Stop bring so obsessed with my roommate."

Chanyeol scoffed. "Do you really think anyone would be obsessed with this ugly little thing?" he asked and his friends laughed with him.

Baekhyun was now staring straight at Chanyeol, without an understanding of why he was doing this.

Chanyeol acknowledge the glare coming from Baekhyun.

"Lock the door before you sleep" he said, with a final laugh and turned around to leave with his friends.

Suho looked at Yixing. "What was that about the door?" he asked.

"The fucking cunt unhinged the door to our room and it fell directly on Baekhyun"

"Are you okay?" Tao asked and Baekhyun nodded.

"Chanyeol needs a taste of his own medicine" Yixing said and everyone nodded.

After a few seconds of silence, Baekhyun looked at everyone.

"I know just the thing", he said and everyone smiled. Including Kyungsoo.

Chanyeol went back to his table, feeling a little victorious.

"Why aren't you eating?" Kris asked, looking at Chanyeol's untouched food.

"He's full with smugness" Kai replied.

"Well if he ain't eating it, I am" Chen replied as he pulled Chanyeol's tray towards himself, stuffing his face with it. The three of them got into their own conversation, oblivious to the fact that Chanyeol still had his eyes fixed on Baekhyun, like he couldn't even blink.

That night, when Chanyeol went to his room, all tired and aching from playing soccer till his limbs gave out, he dropped his bag to the floor and threw himself down on his bed without even changing.

The moment his body hit the soft mattress, his mind registered the moistness that seeped from every fiber of the bed.

Someone had soaked his entire bed in water. Not someone, Baekhyun.

Anger rising inside of him, he immediately got up and rushed over to Luhan's side of the bed. He touched the mattress with this hand as it was dry as a bone.

 _Where the fuck am I supposed to sleep?_ Chanyeol thought as his entire body burned with rage.

"Luhan" Chanyeol said, nudging his roommate a little. "Luhan wake up"

He kept on nudging but Luhan didn't budge.

 _Where should I go?_ Chanyeol thought.

He knew he can't sleep on Kai's bed because of their history, Chen snored like a tractor and Kris would probably be fucking one of the juniors.

He literally had no other place to go and sleep.

With every passing second, Chanyeol got more agitated. It was getting late, he was tired and he didn't know what else to do.

 

Chanyeol knocked the door twice.

"Come in" came the voice from inside.

"Hi Sehun" Chanyeol said, with a mixture of anger and worry. Him coming to Sehun for help technically meant that he admitted defeat. But it was just one small victory that Baekhyun had. Chanyeol would get him next time.

"Chanyeol" Sehun announced. "What are you doing here?"

The taller stood there, unsure of how to address the subject.

"Umm... I need a place to sleep" he finally blurted out. "My bed is soaking wet"

Hearing the words made Sehun smile.

"Oh is it?" he asked in amusement. "However did that happen?" he continued asking, knowing very well who might have done it.

"Well how else?" Chanyeol yelled, on the brink of his frustration. "It was because of that bitch Baekhyun. I am not going to let this slide. You know what my sleep means to me"

Sehun nodded, but still smiling a little that there was finally someone at school who stood up to Chanyeol.

"Well then?" Chanyeol asked, hope brimming on the edges of his voice.

"Well then what?" Sehun teased, knowing perfectly well what Chanyeol wanted.

"Stop being a fucking cunt Sehun" Chanyeol blurted, "Can I sleep here or not?"

"Oh" Sehun said, "That?"

He shook his head and pursed his lips. "I am afraid you can't. I have someone coming over in an hour"

Chanyeol gritted his teeth, "Fuck me" he said.

"I would Chanyeol but I have taste" Sehun said with a laugh.

Chanyeol flipped him off and turned around to leave.

Walking like a zombie through the hallways of the dorm, he suddenly had an idea.

 _Of course, why didn't I think of this before?_ He thought to himself.

Rushing into the end of the hall, he stood outside a room with no door and quietly stepped inside.

He panned the room with this eyes and turned his head to the right where Baekhyun was sleeping.

He moved closer and sat on the edge of the bed, right next to Baekhyun.

The light from the moon made his skin glow. He had the most incredible features Chanyeol had ever seen. His eyes wandered off to Baekhyun's lips and involuntarily, his fingers reached out to touch the plump pout.

Just as his skin was about to brush against Baekhyun's, the latter eye's shot open and he was about to scream when Chanyeol's pressed the palm of his hands on Baekhyun's mouth, keeping him from making any sound.

"Shhh" he said. "I am not here to hurt you, okay?"

Baekhyun nodded, giving Chanyeol the cue to remove his hands and he did.

"What the fuck are you doing here Chanyeol?" Baekhyun asked, whispering annoyingly to not wake Yixing up.

Chanyeol didn't say anything. He simply jumped over Baekhyun and laid himself down next to him.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing Park Chanyeol?"

Chanyeol closed his eyes and sighed.

"Someone flooded my bed and I have no place to sleep. So I am sleeping"

"Go sleep somewhere else" Baekhyun hissed to which Chanyeol only laughed.

"Shut the fuck up and let me sleep before I soak your bed in water Baekhyun"

An uncomfortable silence fell between them, like they couldn't even breathe in each other's company.

 _Fuck_ , Baekhyun thought. He doesn't remember why or since when, but he knew that he hated the entire existence of this boy sleeping next to him. He knew if he retaliated, Chanyeol would not hesitate to do what he threatens to. So for now, it was best to let him have his way.

After a few minutes, the unpleasant silence between them was broken.

"What time does your roommate wake up?" Chanyeol asked.

"Why?" Baekhyun asked back. "Do you want to sleep on his bed too?"

"Just fucking tell me so that I can leave before he wakes up. I don't want to explain anything to anyone"

"I don't know when he wakes up so just fuck off right now" Baekhyun said.

Baekhyun didn't want him there period, but the thought of Yixing waking up to find Chanyeol on Baekhyun's bed would actually be very awkward.

Without Chanyeol knowing, Baekhyun set an alarm for 6.30 am and went to sleep.

 

The next morning, Chanyeol woke up to the smell of lavender. He opened his eyes and realized that it wasn't his room. Then he remembered where he was.

He looked down and found Baekhyun sleeping on his chest, with this hands wrapped around the taller like he would never let him go. His ruffled hair brushed against Chanyeol's chin when Chanyeol noticed that he had been holding the smaller in his arms too.

 _Fucking hell_ , Chanyeol thought before he freaked out and threw Baekhyun away from him. He immediately got up and rushed out of the room, placing his hand on his heart that was beating like it was its last day.

When Baekhyun woke up to the alarm, he noticed that Chanyeol had already left. He simply went back to sleep, forgetting how the night had been the first of many when he slept without a single nightmare.


	5. Chapter 5

Almost a month had passed since Baekhyun first came into the school. He had settled pretty decently and things were running smoothly ever since the morning of Chanyeol's sleepover at Baekhyun's room. Since that day, Chanyeol had avoided Baekhyun for some reason the latter didn't understand.

On an unfortunate morning not much after his successful first month at the school, Baekhyun again found himself in the middle of an empty classroom. Like the first time, he waited for a few minutes before realising that there is no way this was a coincidence.

Just as he was about to go out and find others, the school's dean appeared there.

"Mr. Byun Baekhyun" he said, "What are you doing here and not in your class?"

Baekhyun looked at the Dean who was a middle aged man. He wore a grey suit and was of average height. Then Baekhyun's eyes drifted to the horn-rimmed glasses that he was wearing.

Baekhyun backed away suddenly. No, his mind screamed.

"Mr. Byun" the Dean said again, taking a step towards Baekhyun who suddenly looked scared for some reason. "Are you okay?"

"Don't" Baekhyun screamed, eyes fixated on the glasses. "Don't come near me"

"What is the matter?" the Dean asked. "Do you want to go to the nurse's office?" He took another step towards Baekhyun, left hand stretched out, hoping to calm his student down.

"I SAID DON'T COME NEAR ME" Baekhyun yelled, closing his eyes and crouching himself down on the floor, as if protecting himself. The next moment, he started shaking frantically.

"Get away... don't touch me" he yelled through the incomprehensible madness that the Dean was witnessing.

Out of nowhere, a tall figure appeared and stood between the Dean and Baekhyun.

He turned towards the Dean and spoke in a low voice.

"I'll take care of this" he said. "It's better if you go"

"But..." the Dean began but he knew there was no other option. Baekhyun looked like he had seen a ghost. Without any further argument, he turned around and left.

Chanyeol stood there, unsure of what to do next. He had coolly asked the Dean to leave but he had no clue of how to calm Baekhyun down.

He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. _Maybe I should call someone else. Maybe Sehun can help_ , he thought but before he could turn around, he saw Baekhyun lift his head up.

Slowly, Baekhyun stretched his palm out and sitting on his right palm was a crafts knife, which he must have picked up from the table behind.

Baekhyun was now holding the tiny yet sharp knife with a strong grip against the handle.

Chanyeol stared at Baekhyun in horror, fearing that he was about to do the unthinkable.

Suddenly he found himself unable to move, like his whole body had been paralysed. Watching Baekhyun in this state was like watching his own past play out in front of him.

He tried to speak, to yell, but the fear of the scene in front of him was far more than his senses could interpret. It was like every muscle in his body was betraying him.

He saw Baekhyun draw the knife against the white skin of his left arm. He didn't even look up at Chanyeol like he couldn't even see the latter standing there.

Every fiber in Chanyeol's body screamed to stop Baekhyun but he was too consumed by his own haunting past that made him completely numb.

With one forceful jerk, Baekhyun pushed the point of the crafts knife into his arm as red thick blood seeped out in contrast to his white skin. But before he could draw the cut into a scar longer and deeper, something in the air and in Baekhyun suddenly shifted.

Chanyeol witnessed as Baekhyun's demeanor changed and he looked straight up into thin air and straightened his back. Then he looked at the knife in his hand and let out a scoff.

"You stupid fool" he said, as if he was talking to someone else.

Throwing the knife away from himself, he inspected the cut in his left hand.

"Well that's at least controllable" Baekhyun spoke and Chanyeol stood there, frozen and confused at what had just happened.

Suddenly his eyes rose up to Chanyeol, who was staring at Baekhyun's sudden change, unmoved.

Baekhyun looked at him and let out a pity laugh.

He slowly got up and walked to where Chanyeol was standing.  
"You're a piece of useless fuck, aren't you?" he asked, lightly slapping Chanyeol on his cheeks before walking away.

The light brushing of Baekhyun's hands against Chanyeol's cheek finally woke the latter up like he was in a magical trance, waiting to be rescued.

He turned around and watched Baekhyun exit the class and wondered exactly what he had just witnessed. The hate he had for Baekhyun suddenly grew multiple folds.

 _Coward delusional suicidal bitch_ , he thought.

That night Chanyeol couldn't go to sleep. His mind kept drifting back to Baekhyun and what he had witnessed.

He quickly took his phone out from his pocket and typed 'sudden change in personality' into the search bar.

He was met with multiple results so he clicked whatever made sense to him. Some talked about brain tumor, some talked about mood swings, some talked about side effects of medication. None of these made sense. He was about to turn his search off when his eyes fell on the words ' _Abrupt Change in Personality_ ' and Chanyeol clicked on it.

Scrolling through, he read that there could be many reasons that could trigger personality changed like stress, PTSD, anxiety, depression, substance abuse or physical illness.

He wondered if any of these was the reason behind Baekhyun's change in behavior.

 _Could it be substance abuse?_ Chanyeol wondered. After all, there were a lot of students here who had been junkies before they came to the school.

The files on students were private and the reason why a student was in the school was only up to the student to tell. So no one really knew why the other was there until they confessed themselves. Even if they did, there was no way of confirming.

After all, people around Chanyeol still thought he was in the school because of anger management and none of them knew that the actual reason was because he had been diagnosed with manic syndrome four years ago.

He knew the only way to be sure of Baekhyun's conditions was to break into the Dean's office and get the files himself. The only problem was, the Dean usually slept at his office during weekdays, so the only way he could get there was during the weekends.

Knowing there was nothing much he could do about it now, Chanyeol drifted of to sleep, thinking of tackling the problem when he encountered it.


	6. Chapter 6

The next three days were complete torture for Chanyeol. Now that Dark Baekhyun was back; Dark Baekhyun was Chanyeol's nickname for when Baekhyun was back to his Biker-Gang-Slash-Leathery-Jacket-personality; Chanyeol found himself being subjected to daily pranks by Baekhyun.

On the day after the episode with the Dean, Chanyeol woke up to his entire room turned upside down. He didn't even know how he or Luhan slept through it but when they woke up, Chanyeol was found sleeping outside his room, near the door and inside the room, everything from his bed to desk to chairs to the sofa to the fridge, almost everything was flipped 180 degrees, except the things that belonged to Luhan.

Chanyeol knew who was behind this but he somehow let go of his anger because of what he had witnessed the previous day.

When Chanyeol did not retaliate that day, he thought Baekhyun would back off and that was his biggest mistake.

On the second day, he found all this belongings wrapped in cling foil. Even his clothes had been bundled into one and wrapped in thick, unyielding plastic wrap.

 _Calm down,_ Chanyeol told himself. _You can do whatever you want after you get your hands on those goddamn files._

By then murmurs had already started at the school and people had already started speculating that Chanyeol finally found someone he was scared of.

Somehow, he managed to pass through the day, counting that it was only one day left till the weekend.

On Friday, things finally went out of hand. When Chanyeol woke up, he carefully looked around to see if anything had been messed with or if anything was missing. He inspected the room and found nothing odd. He then got out of bed and quickly scanned under it to look for hidden traps, but there were none.

Finally he let his guards down and let out a sigh of relief. He looked over and found Luhan still sleeping.

Grabbing his towel, he casually walked into the washroom to take a bath.

The moment he opened the door, all his senses went numb. He stumbled to the floor with a loud thump. He doesn't remember much after that. All he remembered was the carcass of someone hanging from the ceiling of the washroom, his own tears and him shouting, but no voice could be heard coming out.

 

Luhan rushed to the cafeteria where he found Baekhyun and his gang sitting and laughing.

"That should be enough for an entire lifetime" he heard Baekhyun say as the others joined in with laughter that rang through the cafeteria.

"Baekhyun" Luhan said with anger in his voice.

Baekhyun turned around nonchalantly. "Yes?" he asked.

"I need to talk to you". Luhan was hanging by a thread at this moment. He didn't even know what else to do except talk it out with Baekhyun.

The boy in thick eyeliner scoffed. "Whatever you need to say to me, you can say in front of my friends"

Luhan looked from Baekhyun to the rest of his gang members and they all nodded.

 _Fine_ , Luhan thought, _if that's the way you want_.

"You shouldn't have done this Baekhyun" Luhan said, "Putting a fake body in our washroom"

Baekhyun smirked. "And why is that?" he asked.

Luhan opened his mouth but it seemed like he changed his mind last moment.

"Chanyeol has stopped pranking you. I do not see why you needed to go this far"

Baekhyun had now gotten up from his seat and was walking towards Luhan.

Keeping his hand on Luhan's shoulders, he leaned in slightly.

Luhan could smell the musk oozing out from his heavy leather gear.

"It's not my problem that your gang leader is a fucking pussy" Baekhyun whispered into Luhan's ears that made the hair on the back of his neck stand.

Luhan pushed Baekhyun away.

"You went too far this time Baekhyun, and you'll pay for it" he said, with a newfound hatred in himself for this boy with smudged eyeliner.

After Luhan left, Baekhyun simply turned to his friends.

"Do you all think I went too far?" he asked but before everyone could answer, a voice interrupted.

"Yes you did Baekhyun". Sehun was standing over Baekhyun's head. "And you better fucking apologise"

 

Baekhyun walked the halls of his dorm later that evening, wondering if he had actually gone too far. He remembered Luhan's apprehension, like he wanted to say why Baekhyun's act was more than just a prank, why it affected Chanyeol so bad.

He tried looking for Chanyeol all day, hoping he could apologise, but he couldn't see him. Baekhyun knew he was this dark, twisted asshole that could make people's lives hell, but even he wasn't that heartless. Aimlessly walking for about an hour, Baekhyun finally landed outside Chanyeol's room.

 _Man up Baekhyun_ , he said to himself. _You really screwed up this time_.

Baekhyun raised his hand to knock on the door but before he could, the door flung open and there stood Chanyeol staring straight into Baekhyun's face.

"I..." Baekhyun began. He looked around him, flustered, to explain what he was doing there.

"I umm..." he said but the look on Chanyeol's face stopped him. Maybe he wasn't ready for an apology yet.

"Hi..." Baekhyun said, in an attempt to start a conversation but before he could say anything else, Chanyeol pushed past him and walked out of the room, leaving Baekhyun's incomplete words hanging in the air.

 

Chanyeol had been holed up in his room all day. His mind had stopped working and he didn't want to think of what he saw in the washroom in the morning. He knew if he stayed here any longer, he would start hating his room too.

Deciding to go to Kris's for a while, he headed to the door. The moment he opened it, he saw Baekhyun, in all his darkness, standing in front of him. At that moment, all he could think of was the fake body that hung from the ceiling. All he could feel was the hatred for Baekhyun that resonated from every cell of his body.

Baekhyun probably was trying to say something, but Chanyeol didn't hear those words. His mind wasn't working. Knowing that he might kill this boy standing in front of him, he simply chose to walk away.

 _You'll pay for what you did_ , Chanyeol thought as he walked past the halls. _You will get what you deserve_.


	7. Chapter 7

On Saturday night, Chanyeol was all set to break into the Dean's office to get the information he needed.

Hiding outside the office, he waited for the Dean to lock the office door and watched him leave close to 11pm. By then, most of the students had already retired to their dorm rooms so Chanyeol knew he would not be caught.

As soon as he saw the Dean walk out, he waited for around 5 minuted before pulling out his set of picks from his back pocket. He crouched down and started using the picks one after the other until he heard a faint click of the lock. Pulling the handle down, Chanyeol immediately rushed inside.

The room wasn't dark but it was still not enough for him to find his way. He couldn't risk turning the lights on so he pulled his phone out and switched on the torch.

Grazing his way through the the office, he reached the file cabinet. Surprisingly, it wasn't locked.

Chanyeol pulled the tray labelled 'B' and sifted through the names till he found Byun. There was only one file under than name.

He hurriedly took the file out and laid it down on the Dean's desk. Flipping it open, he read the first page.

_"Byun Baekhyun, age 19 years"_

_"Severely distressed, depression, PTSD, personality switches, mood swings, suicidal behaviour"_

_PTSD? Chanyeol thought. Was it related to what I had seen that day in the classroom?_

The next line that Chanyeol read, knocked the senses out of him.

_"Served time in probation for attempted murder"_

Chanyeol almost let out a cry of shock upon reading those words.

Just as he was about to turn the page to read more, he heard the rattling of keys outside the Dean's office.

 _Fuck!_ he thought. He analysed what he should do. He couldn't take the file with him, he knew they were checked regularly. By then, whoever was outside, had already attempted to open the lock twice but failed.

Chanyeol quickly put the file back into the tray and closed the file cabinet. Losing no time, he immediately rushed towards the door and stood near it with his back facing the wall.

The right set of keys were finally found and when the door opened, Chanyeol realised it was the Dean who had come back.

He went inside the office and rushed towards the cabinet. Chanyeol's heart sank, thinking he had been found out, but he saw the Dean pick up the jar of water from the table beside the cabinet and to his surprise, he poured water on the plant kept near the window.

"Sorry love" Chanyeol heard his Dean speak to the plant, which he was sure was already dead.

"I won't be back until Monday so I need to feed you, don't I?"

Chanyeol found the entire situation very weird but he knew it was time to leave or he might be caught.

Stealthily, he slipped through the door and into the hallway on the right, without the Dean suspecting anything.

 

 

 

The entire night Chanyeol tossed and turned on his bed, unable to sleep as the thoughts of what he had read piercing his mind.

Since he couldn't sleep a wink, he decided to go on a stroll in the dead of the night.

 

 

 

Baekhyun was having trouble sleeping too. He couldn't help but remember Chanyeol's blank face when he had gone to apologise. He looked like he will never smile again. And somehow it bothered Baekhyun. What fun was an enemy that didn't retaliate? The pranks had become boring since Chanyeol was not even trying to get back at him.

He turned to his left.

Involuntarily, Baekhyun's mind ran back to Chanyeol's reaction in the classroom when Baekhyun had tried to hurt himself. He grazed his fingers lightly on the scar on his left arm that was beginning to fade.

That look that Chanyeol had, was not just of fear, it was the fear of probably having experienced something before.

 _Was he suicidal too?_ Baekhyun wondered. _Or perhaps someone he knew killed themselves?_

Baekhyun shook his head. Why was he even thinking about him?

He then tossed to his right.

_Was the fake dead body really too much? Will he keep ignoring me like this?_

Baekhyun shook his head again.

_So what if he keeps ignoring me? It's not like I give a fuck. In fact it is better that he ignores me. Living at this school would finally be better._

With his thoughts running wild, Baekhyun was sure he wouldn't be able to sleep.

He immediately got up from his bed to go to Chanyeol's room. It didn't matter how late it was, he knew he needed to apologise or else he wouldn't be able to sleep.

Just as he stepped out of his room, Baekhyun saw a flicker of light flashing from the floor above his.

 _Isn't that the administrative floor?_ He wondered. Curious to know what was going on, he took the stairs and walked down the corridor to reach the Dean's office where he had seen the light flashing from.

He looked around but was unable to find anyone there. Suddenly his eyes fell on the door to the Dean's office that was slightly ajar.

 _Someone left the door open,_ he thought.

Pushing lightly, he walked in. It was a decently sized room with windows on the opposite of the door and a large wooden desk sitting in the middle of the room. There were couches placed between the desk and the door but the largest space was occupied by a large cabinet on the walls beside the windows.

Baekhyun made his way through the room and reached the cabinet. Without hesitation, he pulled the tray marked 'P' and took out Chanyeol's file.

_"Park Chanyeol, age 19 years"_

_"Major depression, Bipolar Disorder with Manic Syndrome, NO potential harm to himself or others"_

Baekhyun registered the words. Not once since he first met Chanyeol, did he show any signs of depression. But Baekhyun almost laughed at the line '... no potential harm... to others'.

 _The shrink that must have diagnosed him must have been an absolute dumbfuck,_ Baekhyun thought.

He flipped the pages that were full of medical jargons and things he didn't understand.

As he was turning the pages one by one, Baekhyun's eyes fell on a particular piece of information.

He spread the file on the desk and read.

_"The patient had witnessed a close one committing suicide but shows no signs of PTSD"_

Suicide? Baekhyun thought. He saw someone die in front of him?

Baekhyun looked for details but nothing else was mentioned about the incident.

He flipped through more pages to find some clues, but nothing could be found.

Frustrated, he closed the file and kept it where it belonged.

As Baekhyun left the Dean's office, he realised the gravity of the mistake he had made. He knew he needed to make amends somehow.

 

Baekhyun didn't care how late it was, he needed to apologise to Chanyeol, now more than ever. As he walked down the administrative floor to two floors down where Chanyeol's room was located, he heard faint singing coming from down the hall of Chanyeo's floor.

Without even realising it, Baekhyun was already following the voice that felt like fresh water on a hot summer day. When Baekhyun reached the end of the hall, he realised that the song was coming from the room at the far end where Baekhyun was standing.

He let out a heavy sigh and placed his hand on the door of the room, like his hand could touch the melody that was ringing in the air.

He closed his eyes, sinking in the voice that could probably save him if it were his last day on earth.

He felt like he was finally at peace.

Suddenly he felt something strange within himself.

Feeling lightheaded, he grabbed the door-frame for support. The feeling was so foul and so strong that he felt like he might pass out. It felt like someone had sucked the soul out of his body.

When he opened his eyes, Baekhyun looked around in confusion.

 _What am I doing here?_ he asked himself. _How did I get here?_

Amidst the chaos of his mind, he heard the melody that was coming from the room.

 _It's the same song,_ Baekhyun remembered from the time he had woken up in the middle of the night, unable to remember anything.

Just as he was about to open the door, someone called his name.

"Baekhyun?"

Baekhyun turned around to find Sehun there.

"What are you doing here so late?" Sehun asked.

"I was..." Baekhyun said, pointing towards the door. He didn't really know what he was doing there. All he knew was that he suddenly found himself standing outside this room, listening to the stranger's voice.

"I think I was sleepwalking" Baekhyun blurted out. The song could no longer be heard, like the voice stopped upon hearing the voices outside the room.

Sehun laughed. "What nonsense? I don't think you sleepwalk or your roommate would have noticed"

Baekhyun nodded. _That's true, Yixing must have noticed something if I sleepwalked._

"Sehun" Baekhyun suddenly said. "What day is it today?"

Sehun looked confused.

He took his watch out. "Well it's 2am now so it's officially Sunday"

_Sunday? How can it be Sunday? It was only Tuesday when I went for the class and... and? What happened on Tuesday?_

Baekhyun's mind was not working anymore. There was something definitely wrong with him, but he didn't even know what it was.


	8. Chapter 8

Almost two months had passed since Baekhyun and Chanyeol had found each other's files at the Dean's office.

They avoided each other for good. It was as if an unspoken truce had been called out between the two. Baekhyun, though, had no recollection of him wanting to apologise to Chanyeol and the latter took it as an agreement that they will not be up in each other's business.

But deep down, Chanyeol had not forgotten the incident in his washroom, neither had he forgotten the information he found on Baekhyun.

 _'... attempted murder...'_ the paper had read.

Chanyeol hated the guts of this vile creature that roamed the halls of school like he was innocent. Chanyeol had been fooled once by Baekhyun without his heavy leather gear and thick eyeliner. But not again. He was sure this was all an act the boy was putting up.

It was the day of inter-school soccer competition which meant the soccer team from their rival school 'Institute for Higher Excellence' was there to play with them.

Their captain, Kim Taehyuk was and old rival of Chanyeol. Although Chanyeol was superior to him in almost all aspects, Taehyuk had a weird smugness about him just because he looked down on the students from School for Correctional Facilities, like they were vermin of the society.

Before the match was due to start, Taehyuk walked up to Chanyeol.

"I heard you have competition" he said with a smirk.

"What do you mean?" Chanyeol asked.

"There're another gang out for your spot it seems?"

Chanyeol scoffed. "Fuck off Taehyuk. Like that's ever going to happen"

Taehyuk inched closer to Chanyeol.

"From what I have heard, it already has" he whispered slowly and walked back to the field, leaving Chanyeol in murderous rage.

All the fury of the past two months, with Baekhyun and now with Taehyuk, was released on to the field as Chanyeol led their team to victory 3-0 goals.

The smugness had finally washed off Taehyuk's face.

"Well played" he said, after they had retired to the changing room, extending his hand out.

Chanyeol returned the gesture an nodded.

Just then, Baekhyun came into the changing room to look for his friends.

Just as he entered, he saw Chanyeol who had just come out of the shower, water dripping from his perfectly toned body. He immediately turned his eyes around and went looking for Xiumin, Tao and Yixing who were members of the soccer team.

"Who was that?" Taehyuk asked, full of curiosity.

Chanyeol turned his eyes towards him. "That's who you think is my rival"

Taehyuk's eyes shot up as he gasped.

"That..." he said, "... that tiny little thing?" he asked in horror. "I don't believe it. Did he really take on you?"

Chanyeol chose to ignore him and his disbelief. Firstly, it wasn't true that he took on Chanyeol. Chanyeol could have easily done worse with the information he had on him. And secondly, he had bigger plans to make Baekhyun pay for what he did.

"He's cute" Taehyuk said suddenly and Chanyeol turned to him in shock.

"He's what?"

"Cute. He looks feisty. I'd definitely date him. Is he single?"

Chanyeol could not believe what he was hearing. How could that ugly little thing be cute to anyone? But then, people had weird taste.

"I don't know" Chanyeol said in frustration. "Why don't you go ask him?"

Although Chanyeol and his gang had foul relationship with Taehyuk and his gang, he didn't really feel bothered about him wanting to date anyone from his school, as long as they weren't his friends.

Last year Kris hooked up with a guy from Taehyuk's gang and it almost ended in bloodbath when Kris dumped him for someone else. They couldn't be blamed to be honest but Taehyuk is an asshole in Chanyeol's understanding so of course they were blamed.

After they had all changed and most of them had left the changing room, Chanyeol also went out to finally be able to sleep. His manic depression took away most of this sleep and that is why he exerted himself everyday on the field so he could hit his bed like a rock. And it worked most of the times.

As he walked out of the changing room and out into the hallway, he saw Taehyuk standing with Baekhyun. They seemed busy in conversation.

Without any control over himself, Chanyeol scooted over to listen in on them.

"So I'll pick you up Friday?" Taehyuk asked and Baekhyun simply nodded. For some reason, he did not seem too happy about it.

Chanyeol wondered if it was okay for Taehyuk to be left alone with an attempted murderer, but then he realised that he would better be off dead himself than think about the wellbeing of Taehyuk, or even Baekhyun for that matter.

He saw Taehyuk leave and walked up to Baekhyun.

"You seem happy" Chanyeol said when it was obvious that Baekhyun showed no emotions.

"What the fuck Park Chanyeol? Were you eavesdropping on me?"

Chanyeol shrugged. "It's not my fault you both are so vocal about everything"

"So what did he say?" Chanyeol asked when he got no response from Baekhyun.

"Mind your own fucking business Chanyeol" Baekhyun said and left Chanyeol there, feeling a little uneasy.

That night, Chanyeol's mind dug up weird thoughts.

_What if Baekhyun has one of those personality switch episodes in front of Taehyuk?_

_What if he finds out Baekhyun's truth?_

_What he finds out that Baekhyun is an attempted murderer?_

_What if he uses it against him?_

_Wait..._ he told himself. _Taehyuk is the innocent guy here. Why am I trying to protect someone who tried to murder someone?_

_Well murder can be circumstantial too. What if someone was trying to kill him and he tried to save himself?_

_What if he simply is a serial killer and they just haven't found the rest of the people he killed yet._

Suddenly Chanyeol tried to think if any student had gone missing from the school since Baekhyun came in.

 _No no_ , he told himself. _He would not kill a student, that would be too suspicious._

_But would it? If he is the perfect serial killer, no one would even find out it was him who killed._

The air around Chanyeol gave him chills as he thought of stupid scenarios. But he knew the only way to appease his mind was to get his hands on Baekhyun's file.

The next day, Chanyeol seemed to be annoyed at everything for some reason, especially Baekhyun and he did not even know why.

He saw Baekhyun walking past him to go to the class and he stuck his foot out which made Baekhyun stumble and fall.

He shout out a death glare at Chanyeol to which he just shrugged and left.

After lunch when Chanyeol went into the classroom for his classes, he pulled the chair and sat down. The moment his butt rested on the seat, the legs of the chair gave out and Chanyeol landed on the floor. The entire class turned towards him and started laughing.

When Baekhyun reached his room that night, his entire accommodation had been flooded with soaked toilet paper.

The next morning when Chanyeol woke up, his face had been graffitied with permanent marker which read "BITCHFACE" on his temple. Even if the students didn't want to, everyone called him Bitchface the entire day.

By the evening of the same day, everyone at school had Baekhyun's phone number on which they could call if they were looking for a hookup.

On the next morning when Chanyeol woke up, he found his room covered in papercups that were filled with sewage water. It was not just on the floor of the room or the table or the couch, the glasses were also outlining Chanyeol's body on his bed. One wrong move and the stinking water would spill all over Chanyeol.

He tried his best to avoid any spillage, but the moment one paper cup spilled on his hand, one after the other every paper cup emptied itself on Chanyeol. The worst was when the cups near his face soaked his hair and cheeks.

Stinking like shit, Chanyeol stormed out of the room, not even caring about the cups on the floor that he tumbled over.

He rushed into the cafeteria where he found Baekhyun sitting with his friends and laughing.

The moment Chanyeol walked through the door, the entire cafeteria started stinking.

Everyone looked at Chanyeol and backed away.

"You fucking cunt" Chanyeol said, standing at the doorway. "You're dead" he yelled as he ran towards Baekhyun.

The moment Baekhyun saw Chanyeol run towards him, he immediately got off his seat and started running away from Chanyeol.

The taller, in all his fury, ran behind Baekhyun, resolving to end his life there and then.

Baekhyun ran from one corner of the cafeteria to the other.

By then, even Chanyeol's friends had walked into the place.

"What happened?" Kris asked as he walked over towards Baekhyun's friends.

Suho looked up at him and started laughing.

"Baekhyun flooded Chanyeol's room with sewage water and now Chanyeol's out for blood"

The way Suho was laughing was like a 5 year old child and it fascinated Kris for some reason. He drew his attention back to Chanyeol and Baekhyun who were how circling a table round and round.

Baekhyun was beginning to feel tired and he could see the sweat tricking from Chanyeol's face. They were now standing opposite a table, looking at each other as Baekhyun assessed his moves whether to run left, or right.

Suddenly Baekhyun's mischievous mind worked.

"Dean" he said looking behind Chanyeol's right shoulder which made him turn back.

The moment he did that, Baekhyun ran in the opposite direction, towards the main door of the Cafeteria.

Chanyeol immediately turned back when he realised he had been tricked. With all the energy he had in him, he ran after Baekhyun.

No matter how fast he was, he could never match up to Chanyeol's long legs.

Before Baekhyun could escape thorough the door, Chanyeol grabbed him by his collar and pulled him towards himself.

The sudden shift in momentum made the two of them fall with Chanyeol landing on top of Baekhyun.

"I have you right where I want" Chanyeol said as he started rubbing his hands on Baekhyun's clothes.

Chanyeol's arms brushed against Baekhyun's body as the latter felt a strange feeling run down his spine.

"What the fuck are you doing?" the smaller asked in protest.

"Sharing some of my stink"

Baekhyun opened his mouth to say something but before he could, Chanyeol slid his hands behind Baekhyun's neck and the smaller froze.

"Do you think I will let you off this easily?" Chanyeol whispered with a smile.

With one hand on the nape of Baekhyun's neck, Chanyeol cupped Baekhyun's face with the other.

Baekhyun didn't know what was about to happen, he tried to get away but Chanyeol was too strong. Without any warning, Chanyeol rubbed his left cheek on Baekhyun's right and then his right cheek on Baekhyun's left.

Baekhyun's cheeks flushed. He looked around but everyone was too shocked to see what was happening and no one noticed the slight pink color that had appeared on Baekhyun's cheeks.

"That was..." Baekhyun heard Kyungsoo speak.

"... Hot" Kai said, completing the sentence.

Kyungsoo looked at him, squinting his eyebrows.

"I was going to say that was disgusting but sure, people can have all sort of kinks"

With that, Kyungsoo turned around and left, leaving a very flustered Kai and a very dirty rolled up pair in their own embarrassment.


	9. Chapter 9

After Baekhyun and Chanyeol had gone to their respective rooms to shower, each of their gang members sat across from each other on one table.

The entire cafeteria was now silent, watching what they were doing. It was the first time in more than three months that they seemed to peacefully coexist.

"What do you think is going on with them?" Chen asked the question everyone had been waiting for.

They all shifted in their seats uncomfortably.

"Chanyeol sure looked like he will kill Baekhyun" Suho said and Kris immediately turned to look at him.

 _'What?'_ Suho mouthed at which Kris simply smiled.

Kai jumped in. "Uh hu" he said, "there is definitely something going on. Even though Chanyeol was mad as fuck, I have never seen him so cheerful and high on energy"

"I know right?" Luhan said. "I thought I was the only one who noticed it"

"Well I don't know what you guys are talking about" Yixing said.

"Xi you never know what anyone's talking about" Tao teased and Yixing stared at him blankly.

The whole group burst out laughing at Yixing's reaction except Kyungsoo.

He cleared his throat and suddenly everyone realised that they were laughing with the enemy so they all went grim.

Xiumin who had been silently observing the situation suddenly spoke up.

"Do you think they like each other?" he asked and everyone turned towards him with disbelief.

"Not possible" Tao said. "Baekhyun can't even stand the idiot's presence"

"Maybe Chanyeol likes Baekhyun?" Xiumin suggested. "It was him who was getting all cozy with Baekhyun after all"

"Absolute bull" Luhan said. "Chanyeol hates Baekhyun with every inch of his life. Especially after what he did with the fake dead body"

"Right..." Suho interrupted, "... about that, I always wanted to ask why he was so bothered by it"

Chen opened his mouth to speak but Kris interrupted him.

"It's not our story to tell" he said. "Ask Chanyeol if you want to know"

Suho was surprised at what Kris had just said. It wouldn't really have cost him or Chen much to say what he was asking, but the fact that he didn't, spoke a lot about the type of person he was; someone who respected other's privacy and someone who wouldn't sell his friends out.

And Suho realised he would be in trouble if he kept on staring at Kris like he would never get to see his face ever again.

He turned his eyes away. _Do not go down this road. Y_ _ou'll end up hurting him._

"So..." Chen said after they'd all quieted down. "... the conclusion is that they may or may not like each other but they definitely hate each other?"

A series of nods and faint 'yeses' ran through the group.

"Wait..." Luhan butted in. "Doesn't Baekhyun have a date tomorrow?"

All eyes turned towards him, everyone curious how he knew this.

"Yes" Yixing said and they all turned towards him next. "He's going on a date with Taehyuk". Everyone wondered how was it that no one else knew about this development.

Kris gasped. "Tae... Taehyuk?" he asked, "IHE's soccer captain?"

Yixing nodded as Kris and his friends looked a little surprised; first because Taehyuk had always been apparent on his hatred towards students from School for Correctional Facilities because they were scum according to him and second because everyone knew what an asshole he was when it came to dating.

"That's who Baekhyun's going out with?" Luhan asked with eyes wide open.

Yixing nodded. "Didn't you know?"

"I knew he was going out coz Chanyeol mentioned it in passing but I didn't know he was going out with Taehyuk"

Luhan suddenly looked worried.

"What is the matter?" Kyungsoo suddenly asked, looking at Luhan.

"No... nothing" Luhan said, not sure if it was his place to speak.

"Tell me" Kyungsoo said in an almost chilling whisper that scared the fuck out of Luhan.

"It's... It's just that..." he began, "the last time someone from his school and our school was involved, it ended badly" he said, looking at Kris.

"What do you mean?" Suho asked, instantly intrigued when he saw Kris trying to avoid looking at Luhan.

"Kris was dating this guy from Taehyuk's gang and Kris being Kris..." Chen said, "... got bored and dumped him after a week"

"The guy apparently had already fallen in love with him so he was heartbroken. He stalked Kris for three months and even broke into his room a couple of times"

"Fuck" Tao said, "that's some scary shit bro"

Luhan nodded. "One day he was caught and was beaten up by some students"

"But the bitch snitched to Taehyuk that we had beaten him up" Kris said swiftly, defending himself.

"Is that how the whole gang war started? Because Kris dumped the guy?" Suho asked and Kris looked at him, like there was a hint of curiosity mixed with jealously in his voice.

"Yep" Chen said. "Soon after that Taehyuk showed up at our school with his gang because he wanted "REVENGE"", Chen emphasised the last word by quoting it with this fingers.

"It was really bad" Kai said like the memory of the day still haunted him. "We fought bare, till neither of us could fight anymore"

"Who won?" Kyungsoo suddenly asked, like that was the only thing he cared about.

"No one did" Kris said. "We fought will we could but by the time Chanyeol and Taehyuk went one on one, someone had called the police and we were all stopped"

Everyone turned silent, thinking the fight was over that day, but knowing very well that it wouldn't truly be over till one of them wins.

Suddenly Sehun appeared. "Well well well..." he said, looking at them and breaking the heavy silence that engulfed the air.

"What do we have here?" he asked.

Everyone turned their attention towards the tall guy who had a smirk playing up on his face.

"Bonding now, are we?" he said as he proceeded to scoot Yixing and Kai over to sit himself down.

No sooner had be made himself comfortable, everyone else got up and left, uncomfortable over the fact that they had actually bonded with the rival gang.

"Wait" Sehun called out as he watched them leave one after the other. "I need bonding time too" he laughed.

Both Kris and Suho turned around to flip him off but as they did, they caught each other's eyes.

Kris almost let out a smile, seeing how Suho had reacted the same as him but before he could, Suho quickly turned around and left.

"Oh..." Sehun said. "I smell something brewing" he called out to Kris, teasingly.

Kris averted his eyes from how cold Suho had acted, to Sehun.

"That's your own shit brewing Sehun, fuck off" he said and quickly left too.


	10. Chapter 10

When Chanyeol stood under the shower for the fourth time, because he did not believe the stink was out completely, he felt the anger had not subsided entirely. There was some untouched residue still left at the bottom of his heart that gave him an unfamiliar feeling.

He did not understand it. He had given Baekhyun exactly what he deserved, so why was his heart still unsettled? His mind drifted to the how soft Baekhyun's skin felt against the rough hands of Chanyeol, how the friction of his coarse skin contrasted vastly against the fragility that was pinned under him. How he felt something strange rising from the pit of his stomach when he slithered his hand behind Baekhyun's neck and how he wanted to keep holding him like that.

He had expected Baekhyun to punch him again, or curse him at the least. But he was not prepared for the reaction he got. When Chanyeol brushed his cheeks against Baekhyun's he saw the color rise up to the otherwise pale face that looked dead most of the time. And when he saw the slight blush on his face, he almost understood what Taehyuk meant when he said Baekhyun was cute.

 _What the fuck are you thinking?_  Chanyeol told himself.  _Baekhyun isn't cute. He is ugly. You just expected him to react and not give up. Stop thinking too much about it._

"That's right" Chanyeol told himself softly. "Baekhyun's lack of reaction did not give me the revenge I wanted. That's why I feel this odd feeling"

Before he could think further, his roommate interrupted him.

"Chanyeol are you done?" Luhan called out from the room. "I need to use the fucking washroom man"

Chanyeol wrapped up and went outside.

"Fuck Luhan don't you have a little patience?"

"I've been patient for all the three showers you took before this too fucktard" Luhan retorted.

"Do I still smell?" Chanyeol asked, pushing his head into Luhan's nose.

Luhan pinched his nose, pretending to be badly affected by the smell of mint. "Yes you do" he said, teasingly.

"Fuck" Chanyeol said and stormed back into the washroom for his 5th shower.

"Shit" Luhan said. "I was kidding you dimwit you don't smell like shit anymore just get out please" he said, desperately holding his pee.

"After I am done" Chanyeol said from inside.

"Fuck you Chanyeol" he said and ran out of his room.

He ran across the hall to Kris's room and banged on the door. There was no response. He banged the door two more times but realised Kris wasn't in there. He knew he'd have to go to another floor if he wanted to use Kai and Chen's washroom so he decided to rush to the room 3 doors down from Kris.

This time he didn't have the patience to knock. He simply opened the door and rushed to the washroom inside.

"What the fuck are you doing Luhan?"

"Not now Sehun this is an emergency" Luhan said holding his hand out, but he was in such a hurry that he carelessly stubbed his toe on the foot of the door frame of the washroom.

"Fuck" he said, but the pain was nothing in compared to the one in his stomach like his bladder would burst out.

Closing the door Luhan finally released all the built up pressure and his bladder felt alive again.

"Thanks" he said, as he came out. "I needed to pee really bad and Chanyeol's on his 5th shower so I couldn't use the washroom there and Kris is..."

Sehun put his hand out. "It's fine, you don't have to explain"

Luhan pursed his lips and nodded. He wasn't particularly close to Sehun like Chanyeol was so the entire situation was a little awkward to him.

"Okay then" Luhan said, "I'm off".

"Wait" Sehun said suddenly. "You're bleeding"

Luhan's eyes shot open and he immediately looked at his pants.

"Oh my god did my bladder burst?" he asked, panicking and looking front and back and going round and round in a frenzy circle.

Sehun looked at him in amusement for a minute and smiled at his stupidity.

"No you fool" he said and Luhan looked at him. Sehun pointed to the toe on Luhan's foot that was now bleeding,

"Fuck" he said, "I'd forgotten about it"

"Sit down" Sehun said and pointed at the couch in the room. Luhan quietly followed the order.

Sehun went over to his cabinet and pulled out a first-aid box.

Luhan placed his leg on the table in front of the couch and Sehun crouched down to have easy access to the wound.

Dabbing a cotton in iodine solution, he proceeded to the toe.

"Wait" Luhan suddenly yelled. "Will this hurt?". He looked worried.

"I hope it does" Sehun said teasingly. As if out of reflex, Luhan pulled his foot back but Sehun caught hold of it.

The sudden grip made Luhan go numb for a second. Still holding Luhan's foot by the ankle, Sehun placed it gently on the table.

Then will the cotton swab, he cleaned the blood and let the wound rest in iodine solution. All the while Sehun blew out air on Luhan's toe, gently, Luhan's eyes were fixated on Sehun.

"Does it hurt?" the taller asked softly.

"Hmm?" Luhan said, eyes boring into the back of Sehun's head. "It doesn't."

Luhan didn't even know if any of it was supposed to hurt because he was too consumed by Sehun to feel anything else.

As Sehun tended to Luhan's toe, the latter wondered how he had never noticed how hot Sehun was. And Luhan was always the first one to notice the hot guys around. Was it because he had associated him closely with Chanyeol?

But today, Luhan took his time to sink every feature of Sehun in his mind. The strong jawbone, the sharp nose, the thick, thick mane that made Luhan want to run his hair through...

"Did you say something?" Sehun asked, turning towards Luhan.

"What?" Luhan said, suddenly realising that his hand was dangling in the air, halfway to Sehun's hair.

"Is there something on my head?" Sehun asked, brushing the back of his head.

Luhan let out a nervous smile and ran his hand across Sehun's hair.

"Just dirt I suppose" he said, retracting, and Sehun nodded.

After what seemed like sufficient time to Sehun, he dabbed the wound with some medicine before finally wrapping it up in a bandage. Sehun had been so focused on Luhan's wound that he didn't notice that the latter had forgotten to take his eyes off of him. 

"All done" he said looking at Luhan and smiling.

Luhan took his foot off of the table and got up.

"Thanks for that" he said.

"You're welcome" Sehun replied, courteously.

Nervously, Luhan looked around to find something for him to strike up a conversation but when he couldn't, he simply shrugged.

"Well I better get going then" he said, walking towards the door. The moment he put his hand on the knob, Sehun called out.

"Or you could stay" he said softly. Luhan smiled but composed himself before turning back and nodding. Had he turned back any sooner, he would have seen that Sehun had been smiling too. 


	11. Chapter 11

It was finally Friday, the day Baekhyun was supposed to go on a date with Taehyuk. Baekhyun had no classes after lunch so Taehyuk had told him he'd pick him up from school shortly after.

As Baekhyun sat at the cafeteria, a little nervous and unable to eat anything, he wondered how his life had changed in the past couple of months. He had lesser nightmare, he felt less depressed than he used to and the thought of killing himself had not occurred to him once since he had been here.

He looked around at the people sitting with him at the lunch table. Each one of them was to be thanked for how much better Baekhyun had felt.

His eyes slowly drifted to Chanyeol who was sitting two tables over with his friends. Even though they did not have the best relationship in school, the petty pranks they played had given Baekhyun a purpose to look forward to the next day. On some days he would anticipate what Chanyeol's move would be and on other days, he would spend hours thinking about how to make him suffer.

The mischievous Baekhyun from 5 years ago was finally beginning to surface. And as far as he could remember, he hadn't had any memory loss of late. But he was in a constant fear that this was just temporary, like how everything else in his life had been. And that at the end of the day, the only thing that would stay behind would be the darkness that Baekhyun had harbored withing himself since half a decade.

Suddenly Baekhyun noticed Chanyeol returning his gaze. The latter flicked his eyebrows at Baekhyun. That's when he realised that he had been staring at Chanyeol without even noticing it. He immediately turned his eyes away from the giant and went back to staring at his food.

 _Shit_ , Baekhyun thought. _Shit shit shit shit._

For a split second, Baekhyun raised his eyes to see if Chanyeol was still staring at him but instead, he saw him get up from his seat and walk towards them.

 _Fuck_ , Baekhyun thought, looking down and closing his eyes shut. _Fuck no, please please please just go away_.

"Baekhyun"

"Just fuck off dickwad" Baekhyun blurted out, without even looking up.

"What?"

Baekhyun realised what he had done. He immediately opened his eyes to see Taehyuk standing in front of him.

"Did you just call me a dickwad?" he asked, a smile playing up on his lips.

"No no" Baekhyun began, "I am sorry. I thought you were Chanyeol.

Suddenly Chanyeol came up to them and stood with his hand on Taehyuk's shoulder.

"Wow" he said, looking at Baekhyun. "This thing knows how to apologise?"

Baekhyun shot out a deadly glare at Chanyeol and the latter just laughed.

"What are you doing here?" Chanyeol asked, turning to Taehyuk. "I thought the sign outside says 'Dogs are not allowed inside'"

Taehyuk smiled and looked at Chanyeol. "Then what are you still doing here?"

Chanyeol gritted his teeth, but before he could say anything, Baekhyun rose.

"Are we going out or do we have to continue talking to this fuckface?" Baekhyun asked Taehyuk, pointing to Chanyeol.

Taehyuk laughed. "No we're going out" he said. "Let's go"

Chanyeol suddenly realised that it was Friday and Baekhyun was going out on a date with Taehyuk. For reasons unknown, he felt a pang of anger rising up in his chest.

"Choke on each other's hot-dog, faggots" he yelled after them to which both Baekhyun and Taehyuk flipped him off.

Suho was looking at Chanyeol who kept staring at the cafeteria door even after Baekhyun and Taehyuk were no longer visible. "Why do you keep calling others faggots when you're gay yourself?" he asked.

Chanyeol turned to Suho and blinked twice. He tilted his head, as if lost in deep thought over the question thrown at him.

After a moment of pondering, Chanyeol simply shrugged. "I have no idea" he said.

Suho shook his head before his eyes swiftly grazed Chanyeol's friends across the table.

"Where is Kris?" he asked casually, picking up food from his tray, hoping his question wouldn't raise suspicion.

"I don't know" Chanyeol said. "Probably fucking a junior". With that, he turned around and went back to his table, leaving Suho with his unsettling thoughts.

 

"Where are we going?" Baekhyun asked as he got into Taehyuk's car.

"It's a surprise" he replied with a smile and Baekhyun smiled back.

 

Soon they reached where Taehyuk had intended to take him. Once they got out of the car, Baekhyun was a little surprised. He had expected to go to a movie theater or perhaps the mall to just hang out, but this place was completely different from anything he had expected.

"Where are we?" Baekhyun asked.

Taehyuk looked at him in surprise. "You've never been here?" he asked.

Baekhyun shook his head. Even though he had been born in this city, he never had anyone to go out with or have fun.

"Then you're going to love it" Taehyuk said with a bright smile.

 

When Baekhyun walked into the tiny village with Taehyuk, he was not prepared for what he was about to see. All around him, he saw houses and walls decorated in colorful graffiti. There were murals painted that looked so alive that Baekhyun got lost in them.

As they walked further, Baekhyun came across a flight of stairs that took his breath away. When he looked at the stairs from far behind, it didn't even look like were were steps separating the mural. From where he stood, all he could see was one canvas of blue ocean and fishes swimming across. Like a five year old child who had just discovered treasure, Baekhyun ran up the stairs, in amusements. Upon reaching the top, he waved at Taehyuk who was memserised by the childlike innocence of Baekhyun.

 

As they passed more corners, Baekhyun explored the rusty paintings and the beauty that lied withing each. It was like a new world had opened up to him. Taehyuk didn't have to guide him anymore, it was like each art called out to Baekhyun and he found his own way.

 

"Are you hungry?" Taehyuk asked after they had explored the place for almost two hours.

Baekhyun looked at him and nodded.

"I'll get us something to eat"

"I'll just explore around a bit, call me if you can't find me" Baekhyun said and Taehyuk agreed.

After he left, Baekhyun walked further and turned around a corner. He stopped when he saw the graffiti on the wall straight ahead of him.

It was probably the most beautiful mural he had seen since he had been there. Spread across a canvas of color as blue as sky, was a pair of open wings. Baekhyun kept walking till he reached the piece of art.

As he stared at the open wings, he wondered what it would be like to be able to fly. To have the wind run across his face, his hair, his hands. He wondered how liberating it would be to leave all his worries and fears down here and soar high like nothing else existed except him and the vastness of the never-ending sky.

"Do you like it?" called out a voice that broke Baekhyun's concentration.

He turned around and his eyes widened.

"Chanyeol" Baekhyun said, in disbelief. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Chanyeol shrugged. Even he didn't know what he was doing there.

"It was my time off so I decided to roam about" Chanyeol said nonchalantly.

"And you just happened to be where I and Taehyuk are out on a date?"

"Date" Chanyeol said softly. The word left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"There's a thing called coincidence you fuckwit" Chanyeol retorted but Baekhyun didn't look convinced.

"Did you tell me where you were going for me to be here deliberately?"

Baekhyun narrowed hid eyes. Chanyeol was right. There was no way he could have known where they were going, even Baekhyun didn't know where Taehyuk had planned to take him.

"Fine asshole" Baekhyun said, "I guess it is a coincidence"

Chanyeol sighed. "You still haven't answered my question fucktard" Chanyeol said.

"Which question?"

"Where I asked if you liked the mural" Chanyeol said pointing to the graffiti behind Baekhyun.

The latter turned around and tilted his head, admiring the hypnotising beauty.

Chanyeol walked over and stood beside Baekhyun, staring at the wings that made him feel peaceful. He then tilted his head towards Baekhyun who seemed lost in his own world. Chanyeol looked at the calmness that was being reflected on Baekhyun's face.

"Stand in front of it" Chanyeol suddenly said, drawing Baekhyun's eyes away from the mural and onto Chanyeol's face.

"What?"

"Go and stand in front of the wings, I'll take a photo"

On hearing the idea, Baekhyun suddenly let out a smile that Chanyeol had never seen before.

Chanyeol's heart skipped a beat.

Baekhyun went to the wall and spread his hands out along bend of the wings drawn on the wall.

Chanyeol took his phone out, intending to take one photo, but ended up taking more than one.

"Show me" Baekhyun said, jumping and galloping towards Chanyeol who was struck by the smaller's ability to look so cute and so foolish at the same time.

 _Stop it_ , Chanyeol told himself. _He is not cute. Stop thinking that he is cute for fuck sake._

Just as Baekhyun was about to take Chanyeol's phone from his hand, Taehyuk arrived.

"Chanyeol?" he said in a surprised tone. "What are you doing here?"

Baekhyun suddenly looked at Taehyuk, whose existence he had forgotten until a second ago. He did not know why his heart was beating so fast. He felt like he had been caught cheating.

Upon seeing Taehyuk, Chanyeol remembered that he was not supposed to be here.

"Nothing" he said, "I am meeting someone here" Chanyeol quickly said, not sure on why he was suddenly lying.

"Oh you're on a date too?" Taehyuk asked and Chanyeol passively smiled.

"I guess" he said. Baekhyun turned to look at Chanyeol, a strange feeling erupting inside of him.

"You're on a date?" Baekhyun asked, sounding surprised at his own tone that was borderline accusatory.

The tone suddenly annoyed Chanyeol. It almost sounded condescending.

"What if I am, fucktard?" Chanyeol asked, becoming defensive. "If an ugly shit like you can have a date, I definitely can, considering how my looks are a million times yours"

Baekhyun laughed. "A million times of ugly is still ugly you dumbfuck" Baekhyun said and Taehyuk joined in his laughter.

"Fuck off" Chanyeol said.

"Let's go" Taehyuk propositioned, handing Baekhyun the tornado potato which he had bought for him. "We have to get going"

Baekhyun took the tornado potato from him and looked a bit disappointed. He had skipped lunch and was hungrier than this could ever satiate him.

"Don't worry" Taehyuk said with a smile, as if reading his face. "I have made dinner reservations so I can't have you full just yet"

Baekhyun smiled back and then turned to Chanyeol.

"Bye then" he said and Taehyuk repeated after him.

"Hmm" Chanyeol said, nodding and turning around.

As they walked away from each other, neither could stop their heart from sinking.


	12. Chapter 12

Chanyeol paced in his room frantically. It was past 11 pm and he was getting restless with every passing minute.

 _Why the fuck isn't he back yet?_ he wondered.

_Wait, why do I care?_

_Because it is against the school rules to be out past 10._

_Yep. That's right. That's why I'm bothered._

_Since when have I cared about the fucking school rules? Or anyone from school for that matter?_

_Doesn't he know he should have been back an hour ago? Doesn't Taehyuk know what the deadline is?_

_Is he dead? Did Taehyuk kill him?_

_Or... Did Dark Baekhyun show up and kill Taehyuk?_

"Arghh" Chanyeol said and pulled his hair in frustration.

"What has you so riled up?" Luhan asked as he entered the room.

"Where were you?" Chanyeol asked raising an eyebrow.

"I was with Sehun" he said casually.

Chanyeol found this odd.

"Since when are you and Sehun so close?"

Luhan shrugged. "We just like to hang out"

"Faggots" Chanyeol muttered at Luhan.

"Wait, is that why you're so mad? Were you missing me? Were you worried where I was? Are you jealous that I was with Sehun? Aww Chanchan!"

"Fuck off" Chanyeol said in annoyance, "and never call me Chanchan again".

Luhan smiled and saw Chanyeol pick up his jacket.

"Where are you going?" Luhan asked.

"On a walk" Chanyeol replied before walking out the room.

 

Chanyeol decided to take a stroll on the campus ground. He put his jacket on, feeling the chill in the air.

 _Does Baekhyun have a jacket?_ he wondered.

 _What the fuck are you thinking Chanyeol?_ he told himself. _Baekhyun can freeze to death for all I care._

As Chanyeol was about to exit the dormitory, he heard indistinct chatter coming from the main door of the dormitory. He went closer to see who was out so late.

Upon reaching, he found Baekhyun standing with Taehyuk.

"...favorite was the mural though" Baekhyun said with a smile that resonated in his words. It was apparent that he was happy.

"I knew you'd like it. But I was surprised you had never been there before"

Baekhyun shrugged. "I..." he began. "I didn't have the happiest time growing up. Never made any real friends that I could explore such places with. I am sorry I am dampening the mood right now. It's just that I wanted to say it out loud"

Taehyuk was looking at Baekhyun with intent. He lightly raised his hand and placed it on Baekhyun's cheeks.

"Never say sorry for such things to me, ever" he said softly and Baekhyun smiled with a sweet surprise.

"You know what this school is for, right?" Baekhyun asked Taehyuk and the latter nodded.

"Why haven't you asked me what I am here for?" Baekhyun asked. "We were together the whole day and you haven't asked me even once"

Taehyuk smiled. "Because it doesn't matter to me. And because I thought you'll tell me when you felt comfortable"

Baekhyun was surprised at his words. No one had ever placed his needs above their own. Baekhyun could almost feel the butterflies in his stomach.

"Listen" Taehyuk said, taking Baekhyun's hands in his own. The moment he touched Baekhyun's fingers, he realised how cold they were.

"You're shivering" he said, immediately taking his jacket off and putting it on Baekhyun.

The smaller protested but Taehyuk won't listen to him.

"Thanks" Baekhyun finally said.

Taehyuk held Baekhyun's hands firmly in his own.

"Baekhyun" he said and the smaller looked up at him.

"I... I really like you. I m... mean I did from the first time I saw you in the ch... changing room, but after today, I... I know for the fact that I like you a lot". Taehyuk looked away, embarrassed a little.

Baekhyun smiled at how sheepish he was while confessing his feeling to him.

"I think I like you too" Baekhyun replied softly and Taehyuk turned to look at him in surprise.

"You do?"

Baekhyun nodded with a short laugh.

Taehyuk smiled but his smile soon disappeared.

"Baekhyun, I have to tell you something" he said in all seriousness.

"What is it?" the smaller asked as he blinked at him with his innocent eyes and angelic face.

Taehyuk opened his mouth to speak but changed his mind at the last moment.

"Some other time perhaps" he said with a smile. "I want today to end with this feeling"

"Which feel...?"

Before Baekhyun could complete his question, Taehyuk pulled him closer and Baekhyun lightly crashed against the refined body of the taller. The sudden movement forced Baekhyun to rest his hand against Taehyuk's abs and he could feel every cut of the toned muscles.

Taehyuk leaned in slightly, waiting for Baekhyun to meet him halfway there, hoping he was not crossing a line. Looking into Taehyuk's eyes, Baekhyun jerked his head backward slightly, but Taehyuk kept leaning in.

Just before their lips could meet, a loud noise interrupted them.

"Who's there?" Chanyeol yelled after running back a few paces so he wouldn't be caught.

Taehyuk sighed in disappointment.

"Really? Chanyeol? Again?" he said softly and Baekhyun turned around to see if he was right.

In the next moment, Chanyeol emerged out the doors.

He looked at the two of them and pretended to be shocked.

"What are you two doing here so late?" he asked and then turned to Baekhyun. "You are way past the curfew" he told him.

"Since when do YOU follow rules?" Taehyuk asked.

"Oh shut up" Chanyeol said turning to him. "It's time for you to get lost"

Taehyuk scoffed and neared Chanyeol, pitting himself against him, neck to neck.

Baekhyun noticed how they were almost of the same height.

"Make me" Taehyuk said and Chanyeol pushed him on the chest with both his hands.

"Come at me mama's boy" Chanyeol threatened.

His words stirred up Taehyuk's anger and he proceeded to charge towards Chanyeol.

But before he could, Baekhyun placed himself between the two of them and turned towards Taehyuk.

"Break it off" he said, putting his hand on Taehyuk's chest. Unexpectedly it calmed him down immediately.

Chanyeol did not like that he was so quickly affected by Baekhyun.

"Fine" he said, still a little sour. "It's better for me to go"

Baekhyun nodded but before Taehyuk could walk away, he quickly reached down and planted a peck on Baekhyun's cheeks.

"I'll see you later", he yelled as he ran towards the school gate, leaving Baekhyun a little flushed with a smile.

He turned around and walked inside the school, humming to himself and jumping a little with joy, without even remembering that Chanyeol was standing there too.

As he walked by, Chanyeol stared after Baekhyun, feeling partly angry and party something he had never felt before. All he knew was that this new feeling wasn't a pleasant one.


	13. Chapter 13

The next few days were exceptionally difficult for Luhan. Chanyeol had been in a foul mood since Baekhyun and Taehyuk had gone on a date but Luhan had no clue about it. Chanyeol would get annoyed at the smallest of things and would yell for no reason.

He was surprised that Chanyeol hadn't killed anyone yet.

"You have to go to class" Luhan yelled at Chanyeol when he refused to budge after missing class for 3 days.

"I sleep in the class anyway, might as well sleep here"

"But you still need to go to class or you'll be held back because of low credits"

Chanyeol was one of the toppers in the school and most people didn't understand how that was possible and because of the same reason, most of them were desperate to see him fail. Luhan, being his friend, did not want to turn their vile wishes into reality. 

When Chanyeol didn't reply back, Luhan walked over to his bed and pulled his hand to get him up. Chanyeol instead of sitting straight, snuck his leg out of the comforter and kicked Luhan on the stomach.

"Fuck off" he said as Luhan stumbled on the floor.

Luhan got up immediately and picked up the empty glass kept on the table and flung it at Chanyeol which hit him directly on his head.

Chanyeol rubbed his temple and stared at Luhan with anger.

"What the fuck was that for? I could have died"

"That's what I was aiming for" Luhan said before storming out of the room.

 

The next two days were even worse. Chanyeol picked on him for every little thing.

"Why is your chair out of its place?"

"Why are your clothes dirty?"

"Why didn't you keep the shampoo bottle in its right place after using it?"

"Why are you eating in the room?"

"Why are you eating at all?"

"Why aren't you replying to me?"

But on the second day Luhan finally had it.

He had come late after soccer practice, which too was being missed by Chanyeol, and was tired and sleepy.

The moment he reached his bed, he crashed and slept.

At around 1 in the morning, he woke up to soft nudges on his arm.

Luhan opened his eyes and found Chanyeol standing at the edge of his bed, staring at him.

Luhan almost jumped out of his own skin when he saw Chanyeol hovering his head over Luhan.

"What..." Luhan said, panting, "what the fuck are you doing?"

"I can't sleep" Chanyeol said. "Your breathing is disturbing me"

Luhan lost his shit. "Well fuck you and your giant-flappy-extra-sensitive-ears" he said.

He picked his pillow and comforter and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Chanyeol called out.

"Anywhere but here" Luhan said as he left the room leaving Chanyeol to sulk in his own foul mood. 

 

Luhan quickly left the room, knowing if he had to spend one more second with Chanyeol, he'd end up choking him to death.

Pulling his pillow and his comforter over his head, he stood in the middle of the deserted hallway, not knowing where to go.

Without even thinking about it, he walked towards the door he knew he shouldn't knock on.

But despite his mind telling him not to, his heart told him to to just go with it.

With uncertain thoughts, he knocked on the door once.

There was no response.

He knocked one more time and the door flung open.

A sleepy Sehun stood in front of Luhan, with just his trousers on.

He looked at the pillow and comforter Luhan was carrying and knew it was something to do with Chanyeol.

"Another emergency?" he asked softly and Luhan nodded.

"Come in" he said as Luhan went in and Sehun closed the door behind them.

 

Chanyeol turned on his bed restlessly. Even after Luhan had gone, Chanyeol was still having trouble sleeping. But he still didn't realise that the problem wasn't Luhan, it was something he had been refusing to think about since the past week.

"I better go on a run" he said to himself, hoping that he would be able to sleep after he gets tired.

Soon he geared up and got out of his room. As he walked down the stair, his feet involuntarily stopped on Baekhyun's floor and before he could realise it, he was already walking towards his room.

As he passed the passageway between the stairs to go into Baekhyun's room, he noticed faint sobbing coming from the main hall. The main hall was a big room enough to facilitate around 50 students. Each floor had one and every month all floor meetings were held there and it was usually never occupied.

So it was off that someone would be there at this odd hour.

 _Is it a ghost?_  Chanyeol wondered as he walked further. _Why would a ghost cry though?_

Still scared out of his shit and managing to win the argument with himself, he walked into the main hall.

Chanyeol opened the door and went in. At first he didn't see anything, but as his eyes settled into the darkness of the room, he notices a petite silhouette of someone. 

"Who's there?" Chanyeol called and waited for an answer but there was none. He walked towards the door to find the switchboard.

"Please don't be a ghost. Please don't be a ghost." he muttered to himself as he ran his hands across the wall to find the switchboard. The moment he found it, he turned the lights on.

He slowly turned around to see who was in the room.

What Chanyeol saw, drained the blood out of him.

Standing in the middle of the room was Baekhyun, with a knife in one hand and the look of a mad person in his eyes.


	14. Chapter 14

"Baekhyun" Chanyeol said, running towards him. "What the fuck?" he yelled.

He tried to take the knife away from his hands but Baekhyun wouldn't budge.

"Don't" Baekhyun said softly. His eyes were fixed in the air, like he didn't even know Chanyeol was there.

"Baekhyun stop" Chanyeol yelled. "Give me the knife"

Baekhyun held the handle of the knife so strong that Chanyeol didn't have any choice but hold it from the tip, knowing very well that he could injure himself.

"Fuck Baekhyun" he yelled again, "let go of the fucking knife".

Chanyeol turned his full attention towards the smaller, trying to look him in the eye.

"Baekhyun" he said softly, softer than he had ever spoken.

"Baekhyun listen to me."

The smaller turned his face to look at Chanyeol.

"Let go of the knife Baekhyun" he said. "It's okay, let go"

The moment Baekhyun heard that, a tear fell from his eyes.

"I want the nightmares to stop" he said, sobbing. "I can't live with them anymore"

Chanyeol looked at the frightened face that was breaking down in front of him. In that moment, all he wanted was to protect Baekhyun. It was like watching Baekhyun in so much pain was hurting him for some reason.

"It's okay" he said, "Nothing will hurt you Baekhyun. Give me the knife"

Baekhyun shook his head through his tears. "No." he cried, pulling the knife closer to the writs of his left hand. "I don't want to live anymore" 

Chanyeol felt the pressure Baekhyun was exerting and he tightened his grip on the tip.

In the next moment, he saw drops of blood slide down the tip of the knife to the handle and then on Baekhyun's hand.

The moment he saw his blood, Chanyeol panicked, knowing very well it could easily be Baekhyun's at any moment and if that happened, Chanyeol wasn't sure if he would be able to save him.

"You fucking coward" Chanyeol yelled. "You have no spine do you?" he snapped.

Baekhyun looked at him and could feel the loath in Chanyeol's eyes for him.

"Do you think you're the only one who has problems?"

"Do you think killing yourself will solve the problems you have?"

Chanyeol released the knife from his hand.

"Go ahead" he said with a manic laughter. "Go ahead and kill your fucking self"

By then, his voice had woken up the people from the floor. Most of them had already rushed to the main hall to see what was happening.

Soon Yixing and other members of Baekhyun's gang showed up too.

"Baekhyun" Suho said, walking slowly towards him but Chanyeol turned around.

"Stop" he said, shaking his head and pointing to the knife in Baekhyun's hand. Suho nodded and backed away. He tried to send the other students back to their rooms but no one moved.

"Go ahead Baekhyun, kill yourself" he yelled. "This is what you wanted, wasn't it?"

Chanyeol was yelling at the top of his lungs, soon, the entire dormitory was gathered outside outside the main hall.

The moment Chanyeol's friends showed up, they made their way through the crowd and saw Chanyeol and Baekhyun in the middle of the main hall.

Baekhyun was looking at Chanyeol, unable to understand what was happening. A moment ago he was trying to take the knife away from him and now he wanted him dead?

Baekhyun eyes momentarily drifted to Chanyeol's bleeding hand.

 _I did that_ , he thought.  _I always hurt people_. _No one would miss me when I am dead. No one to cry over me, no one to think about me._

Without hesitation, Baekhyun pulled the knife to his wrist.

Chanyeol knew what would happen now.

He turned around and ordered both his and Baekhyun's friends to take everyone else out and to not let anyone in.

They immediately followed and ushered everyone out of the main hall. Although the door was closed, they could still hear every word they spoke inside. Even their breathing was clearly audible to everyone standing outside the door.

"What are you waiting for?" Chanyeol asked. "You know you're better off dead, don't you?"

Baekhyun averted his eyes from his wrist and looked at Chanyeol as another silent tear dropped from his eyes. 

 _Yes I am._ Baekhyun thought.  _I am better off dead._

"You have no reason to live Baekhyun, a murderer like you should not stay alive" Chanyeol yelled again, going mad with his own rage.

A murmur of shock ran through the crowd outside the hall.

"How can you live knowing that you tried to kill someone?"

Suddenly he saw something shift in Baekhyun. The latter closed his eyes and gasped, like he had been punched in the gut.

Chanyeol did not move. Baekhyun stumbled to the ground before letting out a deep sigh.

When he got up and looked at Chanyeol, the latter knew that it had worked. The other Baekhyun was here. The Dark Baekhyun.

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol and smiled.

"You want him dead, don't you?" he asked with an evil smirk playing up his lips.

Chanyeol was confused again. Why was Baekhyun referring to himself in 3rd person? Like he was talking about someone else?

"It seems like you also know why he's here" Baekhyun scoffed. "That's right. He tried to kill his own uncle"

Each of Baekhyun words were now a whisper, only meant for Chanyeol's ears.

"Do you know why he tried to kill that despicable man? You don't, do you?"

Baekhyun let out a laugh that sent chills down Chanyeol's spine.

"While we are spilling secrets, do you want me to tell them yours?" Baekhyun asked and Chanyeol looked at him in surprise. What could Baekhyun possibly know?

"You think I am bluffing?" Baekhyun asked with hate resonating on the edges of his voice as he hissed his words at Chanyeol.

"Let's see now, shall we" he said, pacing down the room.

"Your friends" he said looking at Chanyeol, "They all think you have anger management, don't they?"

"Don't" Chanyeol said, gritting his teeth, clear with what Baekhyun was about to say. But he still did not know how Baekhyun knew this.

"Why pussy boy? Scared now that it's your secret coming out?"

"Stop" Chanyeol said, balling his hand into a fist.

"Do your friends know..." Baekhyun began, "... that the real reason you're here..." he said, smiling at Chanyeol now, "is because you're bipolar and manic?"

Outside the room, Kris and Luhan looked at each other.

"The people you keep mocking, the people you keep calling shit" Baekhyun continued, "You're just like them, aren't you?"

Chanyeol dug his nails into the palms of his hand. The wound that had started to clot, was once again starting to bleed.

"I said stop it"

"But there's more" Baekhyun said, making Chanyeol confused. What else could he possibly know?

Baekhyun smiled at Chanyeol again. "Do your friends also know, that you turned into this scared little pussy" he said, "after you saw someone commit suicide right in front of you?"

That was it, that was the final nail in the coffin that made Chanyeol lose his temper. His friends had known someone close to Chanyeol has committed suicide, but none of them knew that he had actually witnessed the act.

Without another thought, Chanyeol charged towards Baekhyun and punched him on his face.

"You fucking piece of shit" Chanyeol said, trying to throw another punch which Baekhyun ducked.

Chanyeol punched into empty air and Baekhyun saw his opportunity to return the favour and hit Chanyeol back, with a punch just as strong as his.

Before they could kill each other, each of their friends barged in and separated them.

Before they realised, they were being taken to their rooms in silence. 

 _I will never let Baekhyun fall for your traps Chanyeol,_ Baekhyun thought as he was pulled into his room.

And as Chanyeol was being taken to his room, the only thought that ran in his mind was how much he hated Baekhyun and how bad he wanted revenge for what he had done.


	15. Chapter 15

The next few days were absolutely grim at school.

The atmosphere at school saw a shift after the night Baekhyun and Chanyeol had a fight. It was like tension hung in the air no matter where Baekhyun went. He always felt the eyes of everyone else digging into the back of his head.

He truly would have gone mad with all the silent whispers and the fear in people's eyes for him, had it not been for his friends.

Every one of his friends had been supportive of Baekhyun, despite what they had heard.

Three days after the incident when Baekhyun had calmed down, they gathered in his and Yixing's room.

"Do you want to tell us?" Xiumin asked.

Baekhyun looked at him, startled. "Tell you what?"

"Your side of the story Baekhyun" Suho said, "We know things happen for a reason, we've all been there"

Baekhyun was surprised at his words. Firstly, he had expected them to avoid him after what Chanyeol had told everyone, and secondly, he didn't even know how to tell them the whole story without digging up a past he was so desperate to bury.

He simply shook his head.

"I can only tell you that it's true, I did try to kill my uncle. But I can't tell you why"

"Was it justified?" Tao asked, "Not just by your standards but by everyone's?"

Baekhyun nodded.

"Did he deserve it?" Kyungsoo asked.

Baekhyun nodded again.

"Well then it's settled" Kyungsoo continued, "It wasn't your fault and you can tell us when you want us to know"

Baekhyun looked at each and everyone of them in gratitude.

 _You're so fucking lucky Baekhyun,_ he thought to himself.

"Come on" Baekhyun said, standing up.

"Where to?" Yixing asked.

"We're going to the mall and you can buy whatever you want, my treat" Baekhyun announced with a smile.

"You know we're rich too, right?" Suho asked and Baekhyun laughed.

"Okay you can buy for yourself then" Baekhyun said teasingly as he walked out of the room with others. "And you can treat us to a movie"

"Wait" Suho said, "That's not what I meant" he squealed as he ran after them.

 

 

Chanyeol's friends tried to convince him to tell them the actual story but Chanyeol just wouldn't speak. They then tried to convince him to at least go to class but he refused to leave his room.

"I'm worried about him" Chen said after Kris and Luhan came over to Chen and Kai's room for an emergency meeting.

"So am I" Luhan replied. "I have never seen him like this"

"Does he think we care about him hiding the truth?" Kai asked, "Because I honestly do not"

"Me neither" Chen said.

"None of us do to be honest I hide things from you guys all the time" Kris confessed and everyone agreed to doing the same.

"We need to do something about Chanyeol though" Luhan said and they all fell silent, pondering about how to get him back on his feet.

"I have an idea" Kris suddenly announced after a while. "Let's go" he said, getting up.

 

When Kris reached Chanyeol's room with the rest of his friends tagging behind him, he turned around.

"Just follow my lead, okay?" he asked and everyone nodded.

Slightly pushing the door open, he saw Chanyeol lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Chanyeol" Kris said, going in as the rest followed.

Chanyeol got up and sat straight on his bed.

"What now?" he asked, "I am not going to class or the cafeteria or on a walk or anywhere else you want me to"

"You don't have to" Kris said. "We just came in to inform you that were going out to play laser tag and that we won't be back before dinner"

Chanyeol ears shot up on hearing laser tag. He loved playing the game and it had been long since he had last been out with his friends.

"... and since you do not feel like existing on the face of the earth, we've decided to not bother you anymore and leave you be" Luhan said.

 _No no,_ Chanyeol said in his mind.  _Bother me, bother me all you want._

"Yea we don't want to make you do things you don't want to" Kai said.

He stared at his friends blankly. How was he supposed to even go with them when he wasn't even invited?

 _Just ask me bitches_ , he thought.  _Just please ask me once._

"And we won't be here to serve you your lunch or dinner like we're your slaves who don't even get paid" Chen blurted.

Chanyeol was blinking at each and everyone of the. Expressionless.

 _Just fucking ask me to come along_ , he thought, flustered.

"So bye" Kris said and for a second everyone else looked at him in confusion, but they remembered how he had asked them to follow his lead. So they all nodded and waved at him.

 _Bloody assholes_ , Chanyeol thought.  _What kind of fuckwad friends are they to not even ask me once when they know how much I love laser tags._

They all waked out the room, leaving Chanyeol in a pool of frustrated anger.

Chanyeol felt like he wanted to push each of them from the building's rooftop.

"Oh one more thing" Kris said, suddenly coming back and standing at the door frame.

"You could come too if y..."

"Yes" Chanyeol said, throwing his blanket over immediately, not even letting Kris complete his invitation.

As Chanyeol went over the table to pick his wallet and car keys up, Kris smiled along with the three others who were now peeking at Chanyeol from behind Kris.

 

After spending a good amount of four hours at the laser tag, Chanyeol finally felt alive. It was only after he went out with his friends that he realised how miserable he had been making himself over the past couple of weeks.

"What are we doing next?" Chanyeol asked the others after they were exhausted from the game. Even though he was tired, he didn't want to go back just yet.

"Want to go for a movie?" Chen asked, suddenly recharged with every bit of energy he had lost running round the laser tag arena.

"I'm game" Kris replied and everyone else nodded

 

"Oh the movie is about to start" Kai said as they reached the theater. 

They quickly bought the tickets and went it.

Chanyeol with his extra large bucket of half-n-half cheese and caramel popcorn in one hand and cold drink in the other, scooted onto his seat and the rest seated themselves to his right one after the other. 

The moment they sat down, the lights dimmed and eventually went off as the movie started on the screen.

Everyone turned silent and the starting credits rolled out.

Chanyeol grabbed a handful of popcorn and started munching. Then he picked up the cold drink from the left side rest and took one huge gulp.

"Dude that's my cold drink" the person sitting on Chanyeol's left said and Chanyeol immediately checked both his side rests to realise that his cold drink was kept on the right.

"I'm so sor..." Chanyeol began, turning to the person on the left but stopped.

As the faint light from the movie screen reflected back on to them, Chanyeol saw that to his left was Baekhyun, staring at him with the same startled face as his own.


	16. Chapter 16

The moment Chanyeol saw Baekhyun, he flipped.

"The fuck are YOU doing here?" he asked, feeling his mood turning worse.

"What do you think Einstein?" Baekhyun asked, waving his hand at the movie screen.

"Well fuck you" Chanyeol replied in anger.

"Well fuck you too" Baekhyun said, "And stop drinking my cola."

The moment he said it, he knew he shouldn't have, because in the next moment, Chanyeol picked up the glass and downed it in one gulp. He then flung the empty cup on Baekhyun's head.

"Thanks" he said, letting out a long breath. "That was really refreshing. I feel full"

Baekhyun face turned red with annoyance. "Well then I don't think you need to eat this", Baekhyun said and he hit the bucket of popcorn on Chanyeol's hand and it flipped over, spilling every last bit of it.

"No...." Chanyeol yelled. "My cheese and caramel"

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow. He had never seen anyone so attached to a bucket of popcorn before. It seemed like Chanyeol would cry.

Chanyeol turned around in frustration and in the next moment, he picked up his own cold drink and doused Baekhyun with it.

As the tiny ice cubes traveled through Baekhyun's tshirt, he flinched and jumped on his seat.

Looking at Baekhyun squirm, Chanyeol burst out laughing until every head in the theater was turned towards him.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Kris asked.

"Baek.... Baekhyun" Chanyeol said through his laughter. "Just look at him".

Chanyeol turned around to point to his left but the moment he did, Baekhyun formed a tight fist that landed directly on Chanyeol's jaw.

"Fuck" Chanyeol screamed. He got up to hit Baekhyun back but before he could, the security arrived, holding them from each side.

The security guard standing next to Chanyeol looked at Kris and other.

"Are you with him?" he asked.

Kris raised his hands. "I don't know him"

"What?" Chanyeol asked Kris as the security guard pulled him away.

"No" Chanyeol yelled, "but wait... Kris" he said in an almost plea but Kris just turned away in embarrassment.

On Baekhyun's side, the security guard turned to Kyungsoo who was sitting beside Baekhyun. But before he could speak up, Kyungsoo did.

"Just take him away he won't let us watch the movie"

Baekhyun stared at Kyungsoo in horror.

"Kyungsoo?" Baekhyun said.

Kyungsoo turned to the guard. "That's not my name" he said, shaking his head innocently which made the guard believe him instantly for some reason.

Pulling Baekhyun's arm, he escorted him out of the theater.

 

Once outside, Baekhyun and Chanyeol started at each other, hate drooping from the air between them.

Chanyeol took his phone out and so did Baekhyun and they called their friends.

"Hello?" Both of them said at the same times into their own phones.

"Come out" Chanyeol said.

"We're leaving" Baekhyun said along with Chanyeol.

Kris who was talking to Chanyeol simply refused. "You have your car, either wait for the movie to end or drive back to dorm.

Baekhyun who had called Suho, heard something of similar intent.

"We're not coming out till the movie ends" he said. "Go back to school if you can't wait"

"What am I supposed to do while I wait?" Baekhyun asked.

"Fuck you if you think I will wait" Chanyeol yelled into his phone and then both Kris and Suho hung up on the two of them.

They stared into their phones, unable to believe they had been hung up on and then stared at each other like they were ready to kill.

"This is your fault" they screamed at the same time and ran towards each other, grabbing the other by their collar.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun both drew out their fists, ready to hit on the face when the security grabbed them by the back of their collar and pulled them apart.

"That's it" one of the security guards said, "We're throwing you both out of the mall"

Being dragged like 5 year olds who had been punished for disrupting the class, both of them were taken out.

The guards stepped in and stood in front of the gates, to prevent them from going in.

"Fuck you" Chanyeol said as Baekhyun flipped him off in return.

Chanyeol walked towards the parking lot to find his car and Baekhyun searched his pocket to find the keys to his.

Baekhyun took his phone out and called Suho again.

"My car keys are with you" Baekhyun yelled into the phone. "How am I supposed to go back I don't even have any cash left"

Chanyeol heard this on his way to his car and smirked

"Serves you right" he said, turning back and earning himself another  _Fuck You_  gesture.

"Fine" Baekhyun yelled into the phone. "I'll just walk" he said and Chanyeol heard it too.

 _It's fine_ , Baekhyun thought.  _Walking back won't be that difficult. The school is what... 2 kilometers away?_

He immediately took his phone out and checked the distance between his school and the theater.

"Fuck" he yelled at the screen. "6 kilometers? How am I supposed to walk that much?"

Baekhyun pulled his hair out, knowing he had no choice, moreover he had yelled at Suho and even Chanyeol heard that he would walk back. So there was no way he wasn't living up to his words.

Without delay, Baekhyun set out on his journey from the mall to school.

Chanyeol had pulled his car out and was driving by the entrance when he saw Baekhyun walking towards the main exit of the mall.

"Have fun walking" he yelled at Baekhyun.

"Choke on your own spit Park Chanyeol" Baekhyun replied.

Chanyeol scoffed and drove away.

 

Baekhyun didn't remember how long he had been walking, all he knew is that he was tired and hungry and a little cold considering how Autumn was about to end and even his leather jacket wasn't helping much anymore.

He took his phone out to check the time.

"What the fuck?" he yelled out loud for no one else to hear. "It's just been 15 minutes since I left the mall?"

He turned around and could still see the mall. It was tiny and away, but it was still visible.

 _How the fuck will I reach school at this rate?_   he thought to himself.

Sighing and a little flustered, Baekhyun put his phone back into his pocket, cursing that he should have at least carried his earphones along to listen to some songs while walking back.

 

Chanyeol was enjoying his drive on his way back. The night was peaceful and calm, there weren't many people or cars on the streets, the air was fresh and he had his music. He decided to take a detour and drive for a little while longer before going back to school.

His mind ran back to Baekhyun and him having to walk back to school.

It made him laugh. This situation was oddly satisfying to him.

Chanyeol rolled down the windows as Bohemian Rhapsody came on the playlist.

Humming and breathing the fresh air in, he basked in the glory of the night.

 

Baekhyun had now walked for 28 minutes in total. He knew because he checked his phone every 30 or so seconds.

Every step he took was a torture to him, but at least the mall wasn't visible anymore. That was kind of an achievement. 

It was getting colder as time went by and he wondered if he would be able to reach school before he froze to death.

 

Just as he took another step, out of the blue, he felt something wet fall on his hand.

He raised his palm up and in less than a seconds, it started pouring like it was spring.

Baekhyun looked up at the dark skies.

"Really?" he called out. "Now of all times?"

He looked around for a shed or a place to stand under to avoid the rain but he happened to stand on a section of the road which had nothing but trees.

Not knowing what else to do, Baekhyun rushed to find temporary shelter under a thick tree. He knew he would still get soaked, but it would be significantly lesser than standing out. 

 

Chanyeol was about to turn his car back when suddenly it started raining. The smell of rain and the soothing sound of droplets of water pouring on the roof of his car made him want to drive a little longer. So he decided to go further, he would go back when he would go back.

Five minutes into the drive, Chanyeol suddenly crashed the brakes with his foot as the car came to a screeching halt.

Chanyeol looked up into the dead night ahead of him.

 _Baekhyun_ , he suddenly remembered.  _It must be raining and he doesn't have a car._

 _He must have taken a bus by now,_ his mind tried to convince him.

_But he doesn't have any money._

Chanyeol was really battling with his own thought.

_Just keep on driving, who the fuck cares what happens to him?_

_Turn the car around Park Chanyeol, don't you have an ounce of humanity?_

_He is a big boy, he can take care of himself._

_Can he though? What if he gets sick? It will be your fault Chanyeol._

_Who even gets sick just by soaking in rain for a while?_

_It's cold and it's raining, of course he will get sick._

_Just drive on idiot. Don't forget you hate him._

_Even enemies need humanity. Just turn around._

_Keep driving._

_Turn around._

_Keep driving._

"SHUT UP" he yelled at himself, pulling his own hair. "Argh just shut up"

Without another thought, Chanyeol held the steering tightly and turned it on the right, taking a u-turn and driving back to find Baekhyun.


	17. Chapter 17

Chanyeol didn't know why he was driving like a maniac. All he knew was that he needed to find Baekhyun, while also hoping that he would have reached the school by now and was indoor with all the warmth than soaking out in the cold.

The rain was pouring down heavily and he wasn't able to see much. Keeping a lookout for Baekhyun, he turned the speed down when he thought Baekhyun would be nearby. The lights on the road were dim, making it difficult for him to make out shapes in the dark. The only source of light was one coming from his own car.

Not very far from the mall, Chanyeol suddenly turned his gaze to what seemed like a man sitting under a tree. He couldn't make out who it was so he turned the car around, hoping to ask him if he saw Baekhyun.

When he reached the vast tree and rolled his windows down, he recognised the leather jacket.

"Baekhyun?" he called out.

Phasing in and out of his consciousness, Baekhyun looked up at the source of the voice.

"Chanyeol?" he asked softly. "What are you doing here?" he asked and sudden realisation dawned upon him.

"What am I doing here?". Baekhyun looked around in disbelief. "How did I get here?"

"Get in the car first" Chanyeol said.

Baekhyun tried to get up but stumbled back down.

"Fuck" Chanyeol blurted as he stepped out of his car.

He pulled Baekhyun's arm behind his shoulders and slid his own under his knees, carrying him over to the passenger's seat.

Chanyeol opened the door and carefully laid Baekhyun down before rushing to his own seat.

Baekhyun was soaking wet and was not able to keep his eyes open.

"Baekhyun" Chanyeol said, patting his cheeks, but there was no response. He could see Baekhyun shivering with cold.

Chanyeol turned the heater and the seat warmer on.

As soon as the warmth from the seat and the heater touched Baekhyun's skin, a comfortable feeling rose inside of him.

He opened his eyes slightly. 

"What am I doing here?" he asked. "Did you... Did you leave me out in the rain?". Baekhyun didn't seem to have much energy left.

"What?" Chanyeol retaliated. "Are you out of your fucking mind? It was you who decided to walk back to school from the mall"

Baekhyun's shivers had gone down, but were still present.

"The mall?" Baekhyun tried to look out of the window. "I went to the mall?"

Chanyeol stared at him. "Don't you remember?"

Something in Baekhyun's expressions shifted, like he had been caught hiding something. What was he hiding? Chanyeol wasn't sure, but he decided to take a chance.

"Baekhyun..." Chanyeol said, turning to him, "Do you remember your date with Taehyuk?"

Looking away from Chanyeol, Baekhyun stared at the dashboard and nodded. Chanyeol wanted to ask more but it seemed like Baekhyun was in no condition to be hounded by questions.

The car had become significantly warmer and the colors had returned to Baekhyun's cheeks. But he was still shivering because he was still wearing his soaked clothes.

Chanyeol turned to his back seat and pulled his gym bag out. He always had spare clothes to change into after his work out and although they would be very big on Baekhyun, there was no other choice at this point.

"Take your clothes off" he said softly.

"What?"

"You're soaking Baekhyun, you'll keep shivering if you stay in those clothes"

"I can't change here" Baekhyun said, feeling better than he did before, the strength to his voice returning.

"I'll turn away. Just change okay?" Chanyeol said, turning his head towards his left for Baekhyun to be able to change comfortably.

After a moment of hesitation, Baekhyun realised Chanyeol was right and that he should change. He took his jacket off and then his tshirt that were still dripping water.

Baekhyun looked around for a place to keep his clothes and his eyes fell on the bag kept on the back seat so he twisted his body to reach out with his left hand.

Chanyeol realised he should have given him the bag to keep the soaked clothes in. Without knowing that Baekhyun had already turned to take it, Chanyeol turned around to grab the bag.

The sudden movement by Chanyeol caught Baekhyun by surprise and he jerked back on his seat. Chanyeol saw that Bekhyun was just about to hit the back of his head on the window behind him when he snuck his left hand behind Baekhyun's waist and pulled him in.

The moment Chanyeol's hand touched Baekhyun, the latter let out a hitched breath. For a moment, nothing could be heard except the sound of cold rain, dancing outside the shell of warmth that their bodies were creating. The lights were dim and nothing much could be seen, but they didn't have to see to know how close they were.

Chanyeol could feel the heat radiating off of his own skin in parts where it was touching Baekhyun. He wasn't wearing anything except his trousers and Chanyeol could feel the skin of his hand burn against Baekhyun's back. He could feel the latter's heart, beating fast against his own uncontrolled heart. He could hear his own breathing getting heavier with each second that Baekhyun was close to him.

Chanyeol's warm breath that fell on Baekhyun's cheeks, gave him the feeling of summers and gentle breezes. In that moment, Chanyeol felt like home to Baekhyun, a safe shelter. Baekhyun felt the brushing of Chanyeol's massive hands on his back, like a support and he felt how the closeness, although unfamiliar, wan't uncomfortable. His own body was stacked up against Chanyeol's and although he was wearing a tshirt, Baekhyun could feel his body on his own like there was nothing in between them.

Suddenly, Baekhyun pushed him away. It was then that he realised that he had been holding his breath.

"What... what are you doing?" he asked.

Baekhyun's words seemed to bring Chanyeol back from his trance. He was surprised at his own act but what surprised him more was that it was Baekhyun that had pulled away, not him.

"You... umm" Chanyeol ran his hand through his hair. "You were about to hit the window so I..."

Chanyeol imitated how he pulled Baekhyun and the latter shut his eyes.

"Please just turn around so I can change" Baekhyun said.

"Yes... right" Chanyeol turned back to his left to let Baekhyun get out of his clothes comfortably.


	18. Chapter 18

After Baekhyun was done changing, Chanyeol turned back. He could feel that Baekhyun was a little embarrassed, and so was Chanyeol. Chanyeol's heart was beating so loud that he was afraid Baekhyun might hear it, unknown to the fact that Baekhyun's heart was beating just as frantically.

In order to break the tension that had built up between the two, Chanyeol reached out to turn the radio just as Baekhyun's hand proceeded to do the same.

For a split second, their hand touched and both of them felt a spark of lightening run down their bodies.

They withdrew their hands instantly.

"Ahem" Chanyeol said, clearing his throat. "Is there any particular station you want to listen to?" he asked.

Baekhyun shook his head. "I am fine with anything" he said, in a non committed manner.

Chanyeol turned the music on and let the station set to a random channel.

The first song that came on was a classic by Elvis 'Can't help falling in love'

Chanyeol and Baekhyun stared at the music system in shock.

Nervously, Chanyeol tuned into another station and the song 'Love me like you do' by Ellie Goulding came on.

 _Fuck_ , Chanyeol thought.  _What the fuck is wrong with these stations?_

Almost every channel he turned into, was playing a love song and it was getting frustrating now.

Baekhyun too was starting to feel a little uncomfortable at the joke universe was playing on him.

Finally Chanyeol found a station that was playing soft rock and they settled for it.

"Do you feel better?" Chanyeol asked, turning to Baekhyun. The song they were listening to had just ended and Bee Gee's 'How deep is your love' started to play but surprisingly, none of them noticed.

Just as Baekhyun was about to answer, his phone began ringing. He pulled his phone out from the backseat and it flashed 'Taehyuk'.

For some reason, Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol before receiving the call.

When Chanyeol saw his name flash, he turned to the wheel and turned the engine on, in silence.

"Hello?" Chanyeol heard Baekhyun say.

He couldn't hear what Taehyuk was saying.

"Yes I was just out for a bit" Baekhyun said.

"With?" Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol which the latter noticed from the corner of his eyes.

"With no one. I am out all by myself"

 _No one?_ Chanyeol thought, _I am no one?_

With anger boiling in the pits of his stomach, Chanyeol turned the music to its full volume.

Baekhyun stared at Chanyeol and proceeded to turn the volume down but Chanyeol just caught his hand and jerked it away.

"I'll call you back Taehyuk" Baekhyun spoke into the phone. "Yes I miss you too"

Hearing those words, Chanyeol really lost it. He peddled on the gas and sped up the car like it was set of Fast and the Furious.

Baekhyun stared in horror how Chanyeol was driving. He hated speed, he hated being in cars that drove uncontrollably. 

"Slow down" he yelled but Chanyeol wasn't listening. Chanyeol's anger was rising and if the car could go any faster, he'd drive it all the way to that speed.

"Chanyeol, slow down for fuck sake". Baekhyun was holding on to the dashboard with both his hands. If the car stopped with a jerk, Baekhyun knew very well that the bones of both his hands would break. As he stared ahead, he could easily see the flashes of how everything looked familiar...

Suddenly it got difficult for him to breath....

Baekhyun withdrew one hand from the dashboard and quickly placed it over Chanyeol's.

"Slow down please" he said, almost pleading. "I am scared"

Chanyeol turned his eyes away from the road and looked at Baekhyun who looked scared to death. He didn't know what had gotten into him or why he had behaved in such a rash manner.

"Please Chanyeol, slow down" he said and without any delay, Chanyeol withdrew his foot from the gas and the car slowed down.

 

A few minutes had passed in silence and they were nearing the school.

"Are you hungry?" Chanyeol asked after a while of driving like a rational person.

It was then that Baekhyun realised that he hadn't eaten anything yet.

He nodded softly realising that the school cafeteria would be closed.

"Me too", Chanyeol said. "Let's get something to eat"

After driving for about fifteen more minutes, they reached a small convenience store that was still open.

"What do you want to eat?" Chanyeol asked.

"Ramen" Baekhyun replied with a smile so genuine that Chanyeol could have sworn it was the most beautiful thing to exist.

Chanyeol picked up two bowls of ramen, infused them with hot water and proceeded to the counter where Baekhyun was sitting.

The moment the smaller saw it, he dug in.

"Careful" Chanyeol called out. "It's hot"

"Iduncae" Baekhyun said through his mouth full of hot ramen. "Imoohunry"

Chanyeol let out a laugh at how childish Baekhyun was behaving.

"Can I ask you something?" Chanyeol blurted after a few minutes .

Baekhyun stared at him. "What?"

"Why don't you remember where you were and how you got there when I found you?"

Baekhyun turned his eyes away from Chanyeol to the ramen and began eating again.

Chanyeol realised he wouldn't get an answer.

Just as he was about to give up and ask something else, Baekhyun spoke up.

"I have these episodes of memory loss. I sometimes find myself in odd places, unable to remember how I got there or when"

"Since when have you been having these?"

"Five years I suppose. They usually were short episodes initially but of late they've started lasting longer"

Chanyeol thought to himself. What he had gathered so far was that when Dark Baekhyun shows up, he remembers events of this Baekhyun but this Baekhyun doesn't remember anything that Dark Baekhyun did.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Chanyeol asked.

Baekhyun closed his eyes to gather his thoughts.

After a moment, he opened his eyes and turned to Chanyeol.

"You actually"

"Me? What do you mean?"

Baekhyun recollected his thoughts. "I remember us standing in the Main hall, you were trying to stop me from hurting myself"

Chanyeol's eyes shot open. "Baekhyun that was almost three days ago. Are you saying you have no memory of the past three days?"

Baekhyun shook his head. After a while he smiled. "I'm completely broken, aren't I?"

The way Baekhyun smiled, the sadness hidden behind it, bothered Chanyeol for some reason.

Just as he was about to reply, his phone rang. It was Chen.

"Yah" Chen yelled into the phone. "Where the fuck are you?"

"I'm out, eating"

"Who are you with?"

"No one, I am alone"

"Don't lie to me me, are you with Baekhyun?"

 _What the fuck?_ Chanyeol thought _. How does he know?_

Chanyeol opened his mouth to speak when Baekhyun's phone rang again, and the tune of 'Take me to church' by Hozier played out.

"Yah...." Chen yelled into the phone. "Whose phone was it? Who are you with?"

Chanyeol got up and went outside the store to talk comfortably so that Baekhyun would be able to talk inside.

"What are you? My girlfriend?" Chanyeol yelled back at Chen. "I am with no one I am just eating all by myself. Now hang up so that I can eat and return to the dorm sooner"

He hung up and went inside.

Baekhyun was done talking too.

"It was Xiumin, wondering where I was" Baekhyun said.

Chanyeol nodded. "Yea, Chen called me and asked the same thing"

"Why did you lie to him?" Baekhyun asked.

"About what?"

"About who you're with" Baekhyun said turning back to the Ramen, a little scared to face Chanyeol, afraid of what he might say.

Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun. "Why did you lie to Taehyuk about who you were with?" he asked without hesitation.

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol who was now staring directly at him. Baekhyun wondered why he had done that, but he had no reason. Even he didn't know why he had lied. It was Taehyuk he was going out with, it was Taehyuk that he liked, so why did it feel like he was seeing someone behind his back? Baekhyun didn't even like Chanyeol.

 _Come back to your senses Baekhyun_ , he told himself.

Suddenly his expressions turned cold and Chanyeol could have sworn it was Dark Baekhyun surfacing again, but the look in Baekhyun's eyes was different from Dark Baekhyun's.

"Because it doesn't matter" Baekhyun said coldly. "Because you don't matter".

The moment Baekhyun let the words out, he knew he shouldn't have said it.

For a fraction of second, Baekhyun believed Chanyeol was genuinely hurt by what he had said, but he became so cold so quickly that Baekhyun thought he had imagined it.

"And that's exactly why I didn't tell Chen about you. Because I don't want them to associate me with someone as fucked up as you"

Chanyeol didn't know where the words came from, all he knew was that what Baekhyun said, it pinched him for some reason. But he wouldn't let him know that ever. So instead, he spew venom on Baekhyun's face.

Baekhyun smiled at Chanyeol's words. Not because what he had said was even remotely funny, but because like always, he had decided to tell someone about his broken soul and like always, they had used it against him.

The drive back to the school was spent in the gravest silence that ever could exist. It was like they hated each other so much, that they didn't even have the need to say it out loud, like it had been etched on the surface of their skins.


	19. Chapter 19

Both Chanyeol and Baekhyun had forgotten the events of that fateful night and were back to ignoring each other.

Baekhyun looked happier as each day passed and even though it bothered Chanyeol for reasons unknown to him, he convinced himself to not think too much about it.

The season rolled and soon it was November. Baekhyun's dating was going better than he had hoped and the more time he spent with Taehyuk, the more he seemed to like him.

But even then, there had been something stopping hims from going all in. Something that was stopping Baekhyun from committing to Taehyuk completely. To him, it felt like his mind and body were out of sync. It was like Baekhyun was there physically with Taehyuk but his thoughts were somewhere else. And he knew it was unfair to Taehyuk, especially after how cool he had been with Baekhyun wanting his own time. They went out on dates almost every other day and despite dating for 2 months, Taehyuk had been very patient with Baekhyun, one of the influential reasons why Baekhyun liked him even more. But he also knew he needed to sort his feelings out before he would end up hurting Taehyuk.

They sat in the cafeteria one fine day when Taehyuk came during lunch to visit Baekhyun. Even though Baekhyun's friends knew they had been dating for two months now, which no one had expected at all, they didn't ask Baekhyun much about him because they all worried that Taehyuk was playing Baekhyun.

So when the soccer captain from IHE himself decided to visit them, they decided to test him.

Taehyuk sat beside Baekhyun, his arms wrapped around the smaller's waist and his head lightly resting on Baekhyun's shoulders. He looked completely smitten.

"Why do you like Baekhyun?" Tao suddenly asked but the question came off too offensive. "I mean there is nothing to not like..."

Chanyeol who was sitting not very far from them heard Tao.

 _There is nothing to not like?_ he thought,  _there is EVERYTHING to not like._ Chanyeol scoffed.

"What's the matter?" Luhan asked at Chanyeol who had been sitting like a zombie all this while, sulking for god knows what.

Chanyeol chose not to reply and focus his ears on the table where Baekhyun sat.

"... I just wanted to know why YOU like him" Tao finished his sentence.

Taehyuk raised his head from Baekhyun's shoulders and sighed.

"Do you really want to know why I like him?" he asked and Baekhyun's table rang with 'yes'.

Chanyeol suddenly straightened up, wanting to hear what Taehyuk had to say.

"He's acting weird again" Kai said to Chen, pointing at Chanyeol which he didn't notice.

"Let's just ignore him" Kris suggested and they went back to eating their food. In between his short bites, Kris stole glances at Suho whose eyes were fixed on Taehyuk. It was crazy how Kris seemed hooked on Suho for some reason. Kris was usually a quick eater and would leave the cafeteria almost immediately after eating, but since the past couple of weeks, he found himself eating slower than usual, staying longer than usual and staring creepier than usual.

And it was because of Suho that he tried to stay as long as he could because eating meals together was the only time Kris actually got to see him.

"Where do I start?" Taehyuk began, turning towards Baekhyun. The latter's cheeks suddenly turned red in embarrassment. He didn't really think Taehyuk would answer.

"I think I liked him the first time I saw him when he came into the changing room after our game. When I saw him then, I was intrigued by how someone so tiny managed to threaten Chanyeol's position here"

 _Threatened my ass_ , Chanyeol thought to himself.  _And tiny? Has he been beaten up by Baekhyun even once to know the punch the tiny body can pack?_

"Huh" Chanyeol said as his friends turned to look at him for a second and then continued to chatter among themselves, shaking their head and coming to a conclusion that Chanyeol had gone mad.

"As I got to know him, I started liking him more and more every day. Like how he is almost shy and coy all the time but is never afraid to speak what's on his mind"

 _Shy and coy?_ The voices in Chanyeol's head sprang up.  _Has he MET Baekhyun?_

"I like how he crinkles his nose when he is making a point and he knows he's right" Taehyuk continued.

Chanyeol remembered the time he had argued with Baekhyun in Physics class about Lightyears being the measurement of time whereas Baekhyun said it was the measurement of distance and when Chanyeol didn't believe him and checked the internet, Baekhyun turned out to be right. He had the same crinkle on his nose that Taehyuk was describing.

"I like how he smiles unexpectedly over things that might seem normal to others and yet he notices them in details. I like how he..."

Suddenly Taehyuk stopped speaking when he heard soft sobbing coming from somewhere. Slowly he turned his head over to Chanyeol's table and the latter suddenly became nervous that he had perhaps been caught eavesdropping.

Soon, everyone sitting on Baekhyun's table turned towards Chanyeol and his friends.

"That... that was beautiful" Kai said, wiping off his tears. "I don't think I have heard anything as beautiful as that" he said and started crying again.

Baekhyun who had been sitting there getting redder and redder with each sentence that Taehyuk spoke, thanked Kai in his mind for breaking the flow of speech that Taehyuk was making. Even though it was wonderful, Baekhyun didn't feel too comfortable.

"Stop crying" Chanyeol spoke to Kai through gritted teeth. "It's embarrassing"

Hearing Chanyeol's words, Kai started crying even more for some reason. He blew his nose into a piece of tissue and then glared at Chanyeol hatefully completely missing the fact that Kyungsoo was staring at him and smiling to himself.

Taekhyun was about to continue when he phone rang. He attended the call and turned to Baekhyun.

"Babe I need to get back to school" he said and turned to Baekhyun's friends.

"I guess I can finish this another time?" he asked.

"No" Suho said in a serious tone, "That's enough". Both Baekhyun and Taehyuk looked at him, surprised by his tone of rejection. 

A moment of short silence passed.

"I just mean we're convinced" Suho said with a smile and Taehyuk let out a sigh.

"Oh you were kidding?" Taehyuk asked in a apprehension.

"Yeah" Suho said, "didn't you get it?"

Taehyuk raised an eyebrow and turned towards Baekhyun, not sure what to say.

Baekhyun just closed his eyes and nodded, before patting Taehyuk's shoulders.

"Just go" he said reassuringly and Taehyuk smiled.

Planting a soft kiss on Baekhyun's cheek, he quickly got up and left.

"Yah" Suho called out behind him. "Yah Taehyuk, didn't you get my joke?"

By then he was already out of the cafeteria.

"Yah come back and answer me you piece of shit" Suho yelled, making Baekhyun laugh.

Suho then turned to Baekhyun and raised his eyebrows.

"Do you like him?" he asked blatantly, making Baekhyun flush a little.

All eyes on the table turned towards him.

"Of course he does" Yixing said. "You should see the way he smiles when he gets a text from Taehyuk", he teased.

'SHUT THE FUCK UP' Baekhyun mouthed to Yixing to which the latter mouthed 'NO I WON'T'.

"Well?" Xiumin asked, "Do you?"

Baekhyun was beginning to turn red again with all the eyes on him, making him deeply embarrassed.

What none of them noticed was that every head on Chanyeol's table was turned towards them too. Every head except Chanyeol's.

"Yea" Baekhyun said finally with confidence. He did like Taehyuk and if Taehyuk could be so confident to express how he felt, there was no reason why Baekhyun shouldn't. "I think I do"

"Would you still date him if we didn't approve?" Suho asked and Baekhyun looked at him. He did like Taehyuk but he also knew that his friends were more important to him.

Baekhyun slowly shook his head. "I won't"

Suho nodded and crossed his hands. "It's settled" he said.

Baekhyun mood suddenly dropped. "Fine" he said. "I won't see him anymore"

"No Baekhyun" Suho said laughing again. "I meant that we approve"

Baekhyun's eyes shot open. "You approve?" he asked looking at everyone, "All of you?"

They all nodded.

"We approve too" came out a synchronized chant from the table across them and Baekhyun turned around to see Kris, Chen and Luhan holding their thumbs up. Kai was still drowned in tears of happiness.

"Yea" he said through his tears, "I approve too"

Baekhyun smiled and then for some reason, his eyes searched for Chanyeol in the crowd. Baekhyun didn't know why but he wanted to see Chanyeol's reaction too. But he was nowhere to be found. Before he could think more about it, Chanyeol's friends picked their trays up and moved over to Baekhyun's table, bonding over Baekhyun's relationship with Taehyuk.


	20. Chapter 20

As days passed, Chanyeol found himself wanting to be more and more alone. He went to class alone, had practically stopped stepping into the cafeteria, did not talk to his friends when they came over to his room, did not hang out with them and had even refused to eat the food they brought him when he skipped meals. It would stay untouched on the table until Luhan would have to throw it out the next day.

Chanyeol would rigorously practice for soccer and then would come back and sleep like there was nothing else in the world.

Luhan was afraid he might kill himself at this rate.

"Chanyeol" Luhan said, walking to Chanyeol's bed one day when the soccer practice had been cancelled by the coach. 

"What is wrong?" he asked softly.

Chanyeol was reading a book that he wasn't even interested in, but he refused to look up and acknowledge Luhan's question.

"Chanyeol" he said, taking the book from his hand, hoping he would at least make eye contact.

Instead, Chanyeol turned around, pulled the cover on his face and pretended to sleep.

In a fit of rage, Luhan threw the book across the room and stormed out.

 _Who should I talk to?_  he wondered. He and his friends had tried everything there was to try and talk to Chanyeol but nothing worked. So he finally decided to approach Sehun. They had known each other from their previous schools and he hoped Sehun would be able to help.

Knocking on the door twice, Luhan walked in to find Sehun typing on his laptop.

"Busy?" Luhan asked as Sehun turned around.

"Never for you" he said with a smile and Luhan smiled back. Luhan's heart jumped a little at how striking Sehun's smile was and how he had grown to appreciate the mischief that was usually hidden behind it.

"What's up?" Sehun asked.

"There is something wrong with Chanyeol" Luhan said. "He's been acting weird and now he's not even talking to us. He has even stopped acknowledging our presence these days"

Sehun remained silent for a bit.

"How long has this been happening?"

"A couple of months. The first time this happened we took him out for laser tags and he seemed fine for a few days but since the last ten or so days, he's started to shut in more"

"Do you think it's temporary?" Sehun asked.

"I don't know. You know how we're are supposed to see the shrink twice a week because of our problems right?"

Sehun nodded.

"He has refused to go in any of those sessions. He just doesn't want to talk"

"Do you think it's pent up anger?" Sehun asked, "I mean when he was wreaking havoc through half the school, he was at least letting his emotions out"

Luhan shook his head. "I don't think its anger this time. It's something else"

"Like?"

Luhan inched closer to Sehun, not wanting his sleeping roommate to hear anything.

In an almost whisper, she spoke to Sehun, "I think he likes someone" Luhan said what had been on his mind since a couple of days.

"What?" Sehun almost yelled. Luhan immediately pressed the palm of his hand on Sehun's mouth to stop him from overreacting on this.

"Just listen okay" Luhan said, keeping his hand firm.

"I think he likes someone he is not supposed to and that's what's bothering him and that's why he's been so down lately, knowing that he can never be with him coz he is with someone else"

"uurhurhuahuururuuruuaur" Sehun said.

"What?" Luhan asked and realised Sehun can't speak so he withdrew his hand.

"What makes you think that?" Sehun asked.

Luhan looked over at Sehun's roommate who seemed like he was still sleeping.

"Don't tell this to anyone okay?" Luhan asked and Sehun promised.

"I think..." Luhan began, "I think he likes Taehyuk"

Sehun was about to yell "What" again when Luhan pressed his hand against his mouth one more time before he could yell.

"Shhh" Luhan said, pressing a finger to his own lips and Sehun smiled, finding it to be very cute.

"It's impossible Lu" Sehun said. "They hate each other"

"So what?" Luhan argued, "Enemies become lovers all the time"

Sehun raised an eyebrow, doubting the source Luhan got his information from.

"Just hear me out, okay?" Luhan asked and Sehun nodded.

"I know for a fact that it's Taehyuk because this entire episode started when Taehyuk came here for the soccer match"

Sehun tilted his head, not sure where this conversation was going.

"After Taehyuk asked Baekhyun out on a date, Chanyeol casually mentioned that he was taking Baekhyun out and I swear to god I heard the pain in his voice"

"I don't think that's enough evidence" Sehun said.

"I am not done yet" Luhan hissed, making Sehun laugh. He really was at his cutest streak.

"Go on" Sehun said through a smile that distracted Luhan for a minute but he shook his head. Chanyeol was more important currently.

"So... On the day Taehyuk took Baekhyun out on a date, Chanyeol disappeared for a few hours too, and when he came back, it was like his soul had been snatched away from him"

"And the most compelling evidence..." Luhan said like it was a big announcement of who had won the presidential election, "... a couple of days ago Taehyuk came by during lunch". Sehun nodded, he was aware of which day Luhan was talking about.

"When he entered the cafeteria, I noticed how Chanyeol became more attentive unlike the dead body he was pretending to be. I swear he was intently listening to everything Taehyuk was saying that day because I saw his expressions change with every word he spoke about Baekhyun. And when Taehyuk left, I saw Chanyeol leave after him, sadder than he had ever been. I don't think he liked Taehyuk speaking all that about Baekhyun"

Sehun turned silent. He had no way of knowing how accurate this was since he wasn't the one who had witnessed it, but Luhan had been Chanyeol's roommate for over a year now so there was no way he could be wrong about reading Chanyeol's behavior.

"So Chanyeol's likes Taehyuk huh?" Sehun asked.

Luhan's eyes widened. "You believe me?" he asked in surprise.

Sehun shrugged. "Sure. I mean you do know him more than I do so if you've noticed this so intently, there must be something there"

"So what do we do?" Luhan asked.

"What can we do?" Sehun asked back. "Taehyuk is with Baekhyun and they really like each other, so there's no way I am touching that relationship"

Luhan pursed his lips and hit Sehun on his arm with a punch.

"Do you think I am that vile?" Luhan asked.

Sehun laughed. "I don't know man it was you who set your house on fire coz your parents didn't buy you a car"

Luhan gritted his teeth. "It was an accident you fuckwit" Luhan yelled with a loud whisper that almost sounded like words mixed with dry cough.

Sehun couldn't stop grinning. "Will you set my room on fire if I disagree with you?"

Luhan was done with Sehun at that point. "Fuck you" he said and turned around to walk to the door.

Just before he could turn the knob, he felt a pair of hands slide into his waist, holding him firmly.

"Stay for a while" Sehun said, whispering softly into Luhan's ears before the he felt Sehun's warm breath on the side of his neck. Reaching down, Sehun planted a soft kiss and a wave of unmounted pleasure ran through Luhan's body.

He turned around. "Just for a while" he whispered back with a smile before walking back with his hand in Sehun's.


	21. Chapter 21

Next day when Luhan woke up next to Sehun, he turned around in the arms that were over him and sunk his head into the space between Sehun's jaw and chest.

He could faintly smell the musk that lingered on the taller's shoulders.

Sehun opened his eyes.

"Good morning" he said, softly kissing Luhan on the cheeks which made the latter blush.

"Good morning" Luhan replied.

"I need to get going" he said.

"Umm" Sehun replied, gripping his arms tightly around Luhan, not wanting to let him go.

"Just a little while longer" he said in his sleepy voice that Luhan found incredibly sexy.

"That's what you said all night till I fell asleep in your arms"

"It's not my fault you're so irresistible" 

Luhan smiled. They had been dating for almost two weeks now and since they hadn't made it public yet, Luhan was worried his friends might find out before he could tell them.

"I really need to go or Chanyeol might get suspicious"

"So what if he does?"

"I don't just want them to find out like this. I want to tell them myself" Luhan said.

Sehun leaned in slightly to kiss Luhan on his neck.

"Then..."

"Just..."

"Tell..."

"Them." Sehun said, planting wild kisses after every word.

Luhan held Sehun's face in his hands and pulled him away.

"After we sort this mess with Chanyeol" he said.

"Fine". Sehun took a deep breath and got up, sitting cross legged on his bed.

"Got any ideas?" he asked.

"Why don't we find him a date?" Luhan proposed.

 

And thus began the search for the perfect person for Chanyeol to help him uplift his mood.

After Sehun had accepted Luhan's theory about Chanyeol liking Taehyuk, Luhan shared the same with his friends. Although they showed some resistance to the idea in the beginning, they all eventually agreed when Luhan presented the same 'facts' that he had done to Sehun.

"Do you think we should find someone from school?" Chen asked, thinking who's be daring and stupid enough to date Chanyeol.

"Yixing?" Kai asked.

"Na I don't think that'll work. Yixing is too nice and Chanyeol needs someone who can challenge him" Luhan said.

"Kyungsoo?" Chen suggested next and everyone began laughing on the idea almost immediately. They all knew Kyungsoo would probably end up making Chanyeol his slave for eternity.

"What about Suho?" Sehun suggested. "I think he would be great"

"No" Kris said almost immediately and then realised that he had acted almost too soon.

"I mean you know Chanyeol's history with these people, I don't think it will work out" Kris concluded.

"Well no one else apart from them even qualifies to take on Chanyeol's personality" Chen said. "I would personally recommend Baekhyun but he's already dating Taehyuk"

"He would be perfect though, wouldn't he?" Kai asked.

"Hundred perfect" Kris said. "I don't think I have seen anyone who can make Chanyeol dance to his tunes like Baekhyun can"

Suddenly Luhan stood up.

"I don't think this will work" he announced. "We've practically rejected everyone else and the only two people who either Chanyeol wants to be with or we want him to be with, are dating each other"

"Sit down LuLu" Sehun suddenly said, grabbing his hand and pulling him down.

The room suddenly turned silent. Everyone was looking at Sehun and Luhan and were shocked over the fact that Sehun called him 'LuLu'.

"What is going on between you two?" Kris asked, pointing his finger at the two of them.

"Nothi..." Luhan began but was cut short.

"We're dating" Sehun announced, taking Luhan's hand in his and pulling his head to his chest awkwardly.

Luhan let out a nervous laugh and smiled through gritted teeth as he saw the expression on his friends's faces.

No one said anything. They just stared at the two of them for a while.

Suddenly Kris got up.

"I have to go" he announced suddenly.

"Where are you going?"  Luhan called out.

"I'll..." Kris said turning back, "I'll be back in a while". With that he rushed out of the room.

 

All the while that Kris was running across the halls, he had only one thing in mind that he needed to see Suho. He didn't know why or what it was about the entire dating thing with Baekhyun and Taehyuk and finding one for Chanyeol and now Luhan and Sehun that he wanted to rush over to Suho and ask him out. He had wasted a lot of time thinking about him but he wouldn't anymore.

Kris first rushed over to the cafeteria to find him but Suho wasn't there. Asking around, he found that Suho was in the arts class.

Not wasting any time, Kris rushed to the class. Upon entering, he saw Suho standing in front of a huge canvas wearing an apron that was covered in paint.

He was staring at his painting with so much focus that he didn't realise when Kris quickly moved to stand closer to him.

"Looks nice" Kris said, looking at the painting of what seemed like stars and a moon on a dark sky.

"Thanks" Suho said absentmindedly but soon recognised the voice. He turned to look at Kris immediately and his cheeks turned a little red.

"What..." Suho began, "what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you" Kris said, with conviction in his voice.

"Me? Why?" Suho was confused. They had hardly spoken more than two sentences before.

"I wanted to ask you something" Kris blurted.

Suddenly Suho's heartbeat increased. Although he didn't know what Kris wanted to ask, something told him that it would be crucial.

"What?" Suho blinked at him with a blank expression and all Kris wanted to do was wrap his arms around him and take him in for a deep kiss.

"I was wondering..." Kris began, running his hands through his hair.

"You see the thing is..."

"Actually all this while..."

"When I first thought about it..."

Kris was now looking at his shoes that made Suho look at them too like something was stuck on them.

"What happened was..."

"Kris" Suho said softly and suddenly Kris looked at him in nervousness, realising what nonsense he had been babbling all this while. He did not understand his own behaviour. Kris was always so confident with everyone else so why was he making a complete fool out of himself in front of Suho?

"Hmm?" Kris asked raising his eyebrows.

"Just tell me what is it, okay?" Suho said in a calm voice that also calmed Kris's nerves.

He took a deep breath in and let it out instantly.

"Suho" Kris attempted again, looking straight into his eyes. "Will you go out with me?"

For a second the smaller didn't comprehend the question.

"What?" he asked, eyes widened and mouth gaped.

"Will you go out on a date with me?" Kris asked again.

When Suho heard the question a second time, he got a better grip of what had been asked. But he realised the the answer wasn't escaping his mouth.

He knew in his heart that he wanted to say yes, but his mind was telling him otherwise. The logical part of this thinking told him that he will probably hurt Kris but the emotional part told him  he probably wont, probably it would work out.

 _Don't overthink,_ Suho told himself.  _Just take a chance for this once. You know you like him too_.

In that moment, Suho made his decision. He knew what he would say, he knew he owed himself this much.

Suho opened his mouth to answer Kris when they were suddenly interrupted.

"Kris" someone called out. Both Suho and Kris turned to see it was one of the juniors whose name was insignificant to the both of them.

"What?" Kris asked in annoyance. It was a junior he had slept with a couple of times and he always came back for more.

"How is the sex addiction going?" the junior asked and Kris awkwardly turned to Suho who had gone back to focusing on his painting. Kris's face turned red with anger. 

"What do you want?" Kris asked.

"Just making sure if we're still on for tonight"

"Fuck off" Kris said and watched the junior scram.

He turned around to talk to Suho again but he wasn't standing there anymore. Kris looked around when he saw Suho walking out of the class door and he immediately chased after him.

"Suho" he said, grabbing him by his arms.

Suho calmly turned around. Kris noticed that Suho's face wasn't revealing even an ounce of his feelings.

"Yes?" Suho asked, casually.

Kris was taken aback by his cold tone. "You... you haven't answered me yet" he said.

Suho laughed coldly. "There is nothing to answer Kris" he said. "I would never go out with you".

With those words, Suho walked away, crushing the heart Kris had been carrying on his sleeve.

 


	22. Chapter 22

It had been two weeks since Luhan had told Sehun and others the reason why he believed Chanyeol was sulking and as days passed, everyone seemed to believe it.

Taehyuk's visit to the meet Baekhyun during lunch had become more frequent and the moment he would come in, Chanyeol would get up and leave.

It had been going on for over fifteen days now and none of them were able to find a solution for this. To top things, Kris has been on his least visibility since then, which as Luhan found out, was because he was sleeping with just about anyone and everyone he could find. Luhan was aware of his addictions, but he had never seen him so up and about before.  
  


A week before Christmas, Chanyeol wandered the deserted halls around midnight when most of the students had gone to sleep. He had been having trouble sleeping for reasons he didn't understand. To him, this entire situation was very frustrating. 

 _This thing between Taehyuk and Baekhyun will not end well_ , Chanyeol kept telling himself. _And when things go bad, the war between the two school will end with no survivors._

Telling himself that his school and friends were more important to him than a lousy relationship, Chanyeol convinced himself that this was the only reason why he had been worried.

He walked towards the first floor that was lined with practice rooms. Knowing the fact that it would be impossible for him to sleep, he went towards one of the soundproof music rooms to perhaps look for temporary distraction.

As he went in, Chanyeol did not even bother to turn the lights on as the darkness was very comforting to him. He waked into the room and ran his hands through the drums, the grand piano in the center of the room, the clarinets, the saxophones until his eyes fell on the acoustic guitar kept in the corner.

He roughly let his fingers glide down the headstock and then the neck. He didn't even remember the last time he held a guitar, let alone played it. He picked it up lightly and strummed the chords once.

Even after four years his ears could tell that the guitar was severely out of tune.

Chanyeol's body was aching to play it, his fingers itched to embrace this wonderful piece of musical marvel once more but he knew he would bring back all the memories that he had never told anyone about. Not even his therapist. 

Moving close to the window, he sat himself down as he watched the dim lights of the moon falling out into the field in front of him.

Without thinking much, he started humming with his eyes closed.  
  


It was past midnight and Baekhyun was late. He didn't realise how fast the time went by when he was with Taehyuk.

"I am screwed" Baekhyun announced as Taehyuk pulled his car in front of the dormitory.

Taehyuk took Baekhyun's hand in his. "Don't worry babe I don't see any guards nearby. I think you'll be fine"

The smaller smiled at Taehyuk that made his heart jump a little. In that instant, only he knew how bad he wanted to kiss Baekhyun goodnight.

"I better go" Baekhyun said as he pushed the door of the car and proceeded to get out.

The moment Baekhyun was about to leave, Taehyuk pulled his hand, making Baekhyun sink back down to the seat. He turned around, expecting Taehyuk to be kidding but he was wrong.

Eyes boring deep into Baekhyun's Taehyuk took Baekhyun's hand again and pulled him in.

"Can I kiss you?" he whispered softly.

Baekhyun looked at him is shock, unable to reply. 

They had been dating for over three months now, how long was he supposed to keep Taehyuk waiting? Even then, he couldn't bring himself to say yes. Something deep inside of Baekhyun still wasn't ready with Taehyuk.

And yet, Baekhyun closed his eyes, suddenly going stiff.

With bated breath, Baekhyun waited for it to happen and get over with. The anticipation building between them was killing him more. And the fact that he had closed his eyes, made him more nervous of the unknown.

Taehyun could sense Baekhyun's reserve. He gently smiled at the boy in front of him.

Closing the gap between the two of the, he lightly inched near Baekhyun's face.

Taehyuk felt Baekhyun's warm breath on his lips and he moved closer. Placing his hand on Baekhyun's chin, Taehyuk tilted his head up a little.

In the moment of silent darkness, Taehyuk saw Baekhyun's lips, in all it's plump and redness and the slight parting that was channeling warmth out.

It was killing him from inside to be this close yet so far from Baekhyun. Without another moment of hesitation, he planted a kiss on Baekhyun.

The latter's eyes suddenly burst open as he felt Taehyuk's lips graze his cheeks instead of his lips unlike what he had expected.

When Baekhyun turned to look at Taehyuk, he saw the latter smiling shyly.

"Go on now" he said "Go before I actually kiss you"

Baekhyun didn't have to be told twice. He immediately scooted out of the car and into the dormitory building, his heart beating uncontrollably all the while. Even though he was still very nervous about the kiss, he also knew that a kiss should never feel like a burden. And if he liked Taehyuk so much, why did this feel like a burden more than anything else? Why wasn't he still ready to accept him despite all he had done?

Baekhyun shook his head as he walked into the dorm and ran up the stairs to go into his room.

As he climbed up, he thought he heard something on the first floor.

 _Wait... is that someone singing?_  Baekhyun wondered. The entire dorm was deserted and the first floors didn't even have any dorm rooms where anyone would stay up so late.

He walked down the hallway, checking every music room one by one. He finally reached the one at the end as the voice he could hear became clearer.

 _It's the same voice_ , Baekhyun told himself. This was the third time he was hearing the singing of this unknown person and he was curious to find out who it was.

Slightly opening the door, not to startle whoever was inside, Baekhyun peeked in. All the lights were off and he couldn't really make anything out. But the voice was still singing in its sweet yet coarse voice and it was the same melody that made Baekhyun wanting to keep listening to it.

He closed the door behind him and walked over to find the switch board, trying not to make any noise that would make the singing stop. Unable to see in the dark, Baekhyun randomly searched for the switchboard, hoping to find it before the person singing would leave.

Not knowing where he was going, Baekhyun suddenly felt the edges of the board. But as he moved closer to turn it on, he tripped over a set of drums that were placed right below the board. As he was escalating down, Baekhyun thought it was all worth it because he had turned the lights on before he fell.  
  


Chanyeol suddenly heard the the loud banging like someone had let a canon loose. He immediately got up and walked to were the drums were.

"Baekhyun?" Chanyeol yelled, looking at a disfigured Baekhyun who had landed right on the drums with one of his elbows right into the bass drum. 

Baekhyun suddenly turned his head and stared at the giant standing in front of him.

"Chanyeol? What are you doing here?"

"What are YOU doing here?" Chanyeol asked.

"I was here just to find out who was..." Baekhyun said and suddenly his eyes popped wide.

"Wait..." he continued. "It was... it was you singing?" Baekhyun asked with a wave of shock and disbelief on his face.


	23. Chapter 23

"What?" Chanyeol asked in confusion as he watched Baekhyun struggle to get up from the mess he had created. He slightly bent forward to help him up but decided not to. Watching Baekhyun trying to get up and then falling back down was amusing and Chanyeol hadn't smiled like he was, in a long time.

Finally Baekhyun was up and standing, facing the giant in front of him.

"The song..." Baekhyun said, wiping dust off of his clothes. "... it was you who was singing, wasn't it?"

The question left Chanyeol a little flushed. No one had ever heard him sing before and it was a little embarrassing to him that he had been found out. 

He cleared his throat and walked over by the window, averting Baekhyun's question and gaze.

"Can you please turn the lights off?" Chanyeol asked.

Baekhyun didn't ask why but he quietly switched the lights off and walked over to where Chanyeol was standing. He followed Chanyeol's gaze out into the open field. Everything was peaceful and quiet and as Baekhyun looked out, he found himself thinking of songs he would like to listen to or the books he would like to read by a cozy fire.

The night gave him peace and he finally understood why Chanyeol wanted the lights off. It was so he could see the moonlight dance wildly on the trees and the grass as cold winter wind blew across them.

Baekhyun closed his eyes. He was not very fond of silence but this, this was pleasing to him. The soft rustling of the wind outside combined with the Chanyeol's rhythmic breathing was not something he could find odd.

"Sing for me" Baekhyun said. Chanyeol noticed the soft plea that his words left behind. His voice rang so beautifully on Chanyeol's ears that in that moment, he swore he would have given Baekhyun everything he asked for. He would easily forget everything that existed between them before now and he would easily forget that Baekhyun was with Taehyuk.

Chanyeol's eyes fell on the slight parting of Baekhyun's lips that still held the last echoes of what he had said.  _Sing for me..._

Those lips... tempting and inviting were making Chanyeol's head spin. He swallowed a lump in his throat.

_No, stop it. Stop thinking about Baekhyun's lips for God's sake._

But the problem was, even though he was trying to convince himself to stop thinking about Baekhyun lips, Chanyeol just couldn't take his eyes off of them.

Baekhyun didn't know what caused him to suddenly ask Chanyeol to sing, and as he did, he noticed how he wasn't really commanding him like he usually did, rather he asked him.

He had expected Chanyeol to laugh or throw in a few cusses at the sudden behavior Baekhyun showed which was unexpected to the both of them. But his lack of reaction took Baekhyun by surprise. When he didn't find Chanyeol responding, Baekhyun turned towards him.

Eyes slowly traveling to Chanyeol's, Baekhyun found the latter staring at him intently. The glint of the moon fell on Chanyeol's face and for the first time, Baekhyun noticed how radiating his eyes were. His lips were pursed, like he was trying to hold on to the words he wanted to say out loud and then Baekhyun noticed the subtle shadow of a tiny indentation that punctured his cheeks.

Baekhyun swore Chanyeol's was the cutest little dimple he had ever seen. 

The air between them suddenly became heavier with the tension that was slowly building with each second. Baekhyun felt something rise inside of him as his breathing got heavier.

He noticed how Chanyeol's lips were not pursed anymore, rather the full lips had been released from the pressure Chanyeol had kept them under, making them give out a pure red shine.

None of them registered that they had involuntarily moved a little closer to each other and Baekhyun could now see every detail of Chanyeol's face magnified. How had he not noticed how perfect his face was? The slender nose, the flushed cheeks, the stubbed chin, the protruding ears...

_Oh god his big beautiful giant flappy ears..._

Suddenly Baekhyun realised what he was doing.

_Fuck! FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!_

He pulled himself away from Chanyeol.

"Are you going to fucking sing or not?" he suddenly asked.

As the words echoed through the room, Chanyeol suddenly woke up from the trance he was under.

 _Shit_ , he thought.  _What the fuck was I doing?_

He looked at Baekhyun who seemed to be waiting for an answer.

"Fuck you" Chanyeol said in response. "I am not singing shit for you"

Chanyeol couldn't believe he had almost given into the temptation of what Baekhyun had asked for and perhaps a little more than what he had asked for.

"Asshole" Baekhyun replied, hoping the words would hide how red his cheeks had become, thinking of Chanyeol so close to him.

Chanyeol responded with flipping him off and in the process, pursed his lips again which made Baekhyun go crazy over the tiny crater on his cheek.

It was crazy how something as small as this was waking up huge storm inside of Baekhyun. Something as insignificant as the dimple which many other people in the world had, was raging Baekhyun to his wildness. But it wasn't really insignificant, was it? Not when it belonged to Chanyeol.

"Fine" Baekhyun said, turning away from the distraction that wasn't letting him think.

Even though Chanyeol didn't show it, or knew why, but he felt a pang of disappointment that Baekhyun wasn't forcing him to do what he wanted like he always did. Even though it had been over fights and petty arguments, but him asserting his authority over Chanyeol always made him feel strangely satisfied, like the two of them had what none of them did with anyone else.

And suddenly Baekhyun giving up so easily made Chanyeol feel like he was just like everyone else and that he held no significant place in Baekhyun's life. And for some reason, it upset him deeply.

Chanyeol couldn't help his mind from running in all directions.

_Maybe because he has Taehyuk now, he doesn't really need me to fill the void that existed in his life. Maybe he has found someone better to invest time and energy in. Maybe I AM nothing just like Baekhyun said that night. Maybe I don't matter to him after all._

 

Baekhyun didn't know why Chanyeol was strangely quiet that night. Any other day and he would have turned the room upside down to fight with Baekhyun but his behavior was odd and Baekhyun knew something was off.

He quietly turned around to find Chanyeol staring at the floor, lost in his own world.

"Chanyeol" Baekhyun said walking closer to him. "Is something wrong?"

Chanyeol didn't respond but his face told Baekhyun enough. He looked like he had lost something he would never get back.

"Chanyeol". Baekhyun took Chanyeol's hand in his and squeezed it lightly. "Tell me what's wrong"

The taller moved his eyes from the floor and straight into Baekhyun's.

"Do I not matter at all?" Chanyeol asked softly, unaware or where the question came from and unaware of how he had let himself be so exposed so suddenly. 

Baekhyun dropped his hand and drew them away.

A voice in Chanyeol's head laughed.  _You fool,_ it told him.  _Letting yourself be vulnerable in front of someone who doesn't even ca..._

The voice inside of Chanyeol's head didn't get to complete it's sentence because suddenly, Baekhyun placed both his hands on Chanyeol's face and pulled him in for a kiss.

The moment their bodies touches, a bolt of pleasure ran through each of them. Baekhyun didn't know he was capable of doing this but in that moment, Chanyeol felt like his own to take. So he did.

When Chanyeol's lips crashed against Baekhyun, he didn't have to be told what to do. The latter's lips gave him the access he had been thinking about for so... so long.

At first, the kiss was soft and sweet, but then Baekhyun leaned against Chanyeol's body, slightly pulling him near as he wrapped his arms around the taller's shoulders. Slowly sliding his hands around Baekhyun's back, Chanyeol pulled Baekhyun up and the smaller's leg enclosed around Chanyeol's waist. Chanyeol could feel Baekhyun's heartbeat against his own and he was surprised at how they were beating in complete harmony.

When Chanyeol pulled him up, Baekhyun softly let go of Chanyeol's lips and smiled at him, looking down into his eyes. The one thing Baekhyun regretted in that moment was not kissing Chanyeol any sooner.

The taller saw Baekhyun smile at him and all he could think about was how he had stopped himself from thinking about him for so long and how stupid he had been in doing so. The thought made him hold Baekhyun tighter, hoping to never let go. Baekhyun felt his hands grip him like he wanted Baekhyun to feel like he only belonged to Chanyeol and no one else. Baekhyun leaned down to go in for a deeper, more passionate kiss. 

Slowly, Chanyeol moved towards the wall and pinned Baekhyun against it as he rubbed his body against Baekhyun's. The latter ran his hands through Chanyeol's hair as the taller planted wild kisses on the his lips. 

Baekhyun nibbled on Chanyeol's lower lip, tracing it's edges with his tongue like he would never get to taste them again. Baekhyun didn't remember what came over him but the taste of Chanyeol's lips was intoxicating. The subtle hint of vanilla mixed with caramel made him crazier with each kiss.

  
Without hesitation, Chanyeol pulled away from the Baekhyun's lips and marked him with a line of kisses first on his chin and then his jaws before reaching down to his neck.

The moment Chanyeol's lips touched the soft skin on Baekhyun's neck, the latter let out a soft moan that made Chanyeol go mad with wildness.

 _Fuck_ , Chanyeol thought.  _He is so hot._

Chanyeol was screaming from the inside to tear Baekhyun's clothes off but he knew he shouldn't. This was all going too fast and Chanyeol's knew Baekhyun would regret it the next day.

Slowly Chanyeol pulled away from Baekhyun's neck and amidst his heavy breathing and skipped heartbeats, he looked at Baekhyun once more.

Baekhyun stared into those big beautiful eyes and pulled him once more for a kiss, but this time, a soft, slow one, like they had all the time in the world, like Baekhyun's lips were memorising the formation of Chanyeol's lips.

"Of course you matter Park Chanyeol" Baekhyun said through the kisses he was leaving on the taller. "You've always mattered".

 


	24. Chapter 24

Chanyeol sat by the window like he was before but his time, Baekhyun sat in front of him, with his hands wrapped around the taller's neck and his face buried in the space between Chanyeol's neck and shoulder.

"Chanyeol" Baekhyun whispered, unmoving from the comfortable spot he had built for himself.

"Hmm?" Chanyeol turned his head towards Baekhyun and left a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Can I ask you something?" Baekhyun's voice was serious now.

"Can you look into my face while doing it?"

Baekhyun grazed himself out from underneath Chanyeol's ears and now faced him as the latter had requested.

"Can I ask you why you're at this school?" Baekhyun finally asked what he had been meaning to but the moment he did, he saw something shift in Chanyeol's eyes. The warmth that he could see, was beginning to disappear. 

Chanyeol turned his face away from Baekhyun and gazed out into the open field. The moon had shifted, casting vague long shadows of the tree in the open ground.

He wondered if it was safe to open the book that he had cast aside so long ago. Would it be okay to say his stories out loud? No one knew what he had seen, no one knew why he was here and sometimes, it made Chanyeol feel suffocated. Would it be fine to tell Baekhyun of his fears and what kept him from sleeping at night?

Chanyeol wasn't sure if it was okay, but he was sure that he wanted to tell Baekhyun everything that he had been keeping inside of him for these past few years, things that had welled within him. Things that had become poison, killing him from inside. 

Baekhyun reached out and placed his hands on the sides of Chanyeol's face, nudging it softly to turn and face him.

Before Chanyeol looked into Baekhyun's eyes, he had feared he'd see ocean of possibilities of how things could go wrong if he chose to speak his heart but when he saw Baekhyun looking at him with those innocent eyes, he saw something he never had before. There was no hint of curiosity or sympathy. All he could see was a glimmer of trust that Chanyeol was beginning to feel within himself too.

Chanyeol placed his hand on Baekhyun's jaw and pulled him in softly, taking all of Baekhyun's lips into his own. Baekhyun responded with grabbing Chanyeol by the hair and drawing him closer to himself in an electrifying embrace.

_Goddamnit Chanyeol, why do you have to taste so good?_

Chanyeol's fingers traced the outline of Baekhyun's jaws as his other reached up on Baekhyun's back. Immaculately his hands slid up under Baekhyun's tshirt and the moment Chanyeol's hand touched Baekhyun's bare back, the smaller let out a pleasurable moan that raced Chanyeol's heart.

Letting his hands roam freely on Baekhyun's bare self, Chanyeol finally settled with tracing circles with his fingers on Baekhyun's lower back.

It tickled Baekhyun as he smiled through the kisses every time Chanyeol formed a circle, touching the traces oh himself he left behind a few second ago.

 _Stop_ , the voice in Chanyeol's head said.

Baekhyun was still hanging on to his lips when Chanyeol pulled away from the kiss. 

"Is something wrong? Did I do something? Am I a bad kisser" Baekhyun asked, a little embarrassed.

Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun's and laughed lightly. He left another soft kiss on his lips.

"You're not a bad kisser" he said with a smile.

"Then what's wrong?" Baekhyun asked.

Chanyeol eyes fell down to Baekhyun swollen lips that still were irresistible to him. "If we continue this, I am afraid I will end up devouring you"

Hearing those words, Baekhyun blushed but he tried to act like it was nothing, even though the muscle beating inside of his chest acted otherwise. 

Chanyeol stared at this thing in front of him and wondered how did he end up hating him especially considering how adorable he was. Even though he had friends, and had hardly ever been alone, he somehow connected more with Baekhyun in silence than he did with anyone else in words.

"Do you really want to know why I am here?"

"Yes"

Chanyeol sighed. "It's not a long story and it's not really that much"

Baekhyun placed a faint kiss on Chanyeol's forehead. "I still want to know"

Chanyeol took a deep breath. "A few years ago, I was dating someone, a girl. I loved her in every way that I could, every way that I thought was possible and I thought we were happy"

Baekhyun could hear Chanyeol's voice shaking, like the remembrance of the time made him relive it. He took Chanyeol's hand in his, giving him the reassurance he needed.

"It was only after a year of dating her that I found out that she was cheating on me with someone else. But you know how I found out?" Chanyeol laughed, leaving Baekhyun a little confused.

"I found out when someone asked me if my parents would be okay with us getting married considering she was 4 months pregnant"

Chanyeol's laughter rang through the otherwise silent room as it echoed from every corner before reaching back to Baekhyun's ears.

"We hadn't even had sex till then. Hell we were what? Fifteen? Sixteen? And she was pregnant". Chanyeol looked away from Baekhyun for a moment, like he was recollecting the events one by one.

"I dumped her when I found out" Chanyeol continued. "I dumped her and that was my biggest mistake"

Baekhyun didn't understand. How was any of this Chanyeol's mistake?

"A month after I dumped her, I saw her at school wandering the halls like a zombie, like she had no purpose in life. I found out later that day from her best friend that the father of the child refused to accept her and her baby. And like a fool that I was, I decided to be there for her. Despite everything she had done, I decided to love her still."

Baekhyun was shocked to hear what Chanyeol had said. The girl had cheated on him and was pregnant with someone else's child and even then he decided to be with her? How selfless was this boy?

"That night I decided to go to her house and tell her that I would do anything to make her happy as long as she would want to be with me. But..."

Chanyeol's voice trailed off. Baekhyun saw warm tears strolling down those magnificent cheeks and all he wanted to do was hold Chanyeol in his arms and make him feel safe and protected.

"I should have gone there sooner Baekhyun" Chanyeol said through his tears, turning towards Baekhyun.

"If only I had gone there sooner, I could have saved her"

Baekhyun's eyes widened.

"What do you mean?" he asked in shock.

Chanyeol wiped his face and sniffed lightly. 

"I spent an hour outside her house, fighting with myself if I was doing the right thing when in reality, I knew I was. But despite that, I walked around her house in confusion, trying to tell myself to go back, to be practical, to stop being the blindly trusting person that I am"

Chanyeol was now trying hard to control the tears that were beginning to surface again.

"When I finally convinced myself that I wanted to support her no matter what, I went in. Her parents told me she was up in her room so I went upstairs. But when I opened the door..."

Suddenly Chanyeol started shivering. The tears he had tried to stop were falling down his face again and Baekhyun didn't know how to comfort him, he wasn't even sure if he  _was_ supposed to comfort him.

"When... When I saw her, she was... she was hanging down the ceiling, lifeless" Chanyeol managed to say through his sobs.

Baekhyun couldn't believe what he was hearing. he couldn't even imagine what Chanyeol would have felt at that point, watching someone you love die in front of you.

"If only I had gone there sooner, if only I had not been the idiot I am and had not wasted an hour outside her house, walking and arguing with myself when all the while she was inside, thinking of killing herself, I could have saved her. I could have saved the child that didn't deserve to die before even coming into this world"

Chanyeol was now crying like a baby and Baekhyun couldn't find the words that would ever be enough to comfort him. But he knew letting him cry was the best thing for him. Pent up emotions and hurt, accumulated over all these years had finally found a release. And so, Baekhyun didn't say a word. He just let Chanyeol be.

  
After what seemed like ages, Chanyeol finally looked up at Baekhyun who was still staring at him like no time had passed.

"I am a coward Baekhyun" he said with a fake laugh. "You must think am stupid to be affected by it like I am but..."

Before Chanyeol could complete, Baekhyun placed his finger on Chanyeol's lips, preventing him for speaking. 

"Don't say that" Baekhyun said. "You're not stupid Chanyeol. You are not stupid for loving someone and giving them your heart. You are not stupid for letting them break your heart into pieces and yet choosing to trust them again. You're not stupid for being affected by what happened and you're not stupid because you want to cry over it"

Through melancholic eyes, Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun whose words were like melody to his ears.

"You're brave Chanyeol. Not many people are brave enough to accept someone like you were ready to accept her. And you're selfless and you're humble and you're kind. You're a lot of things Park Chanyeol but you're not stupid. And you're not a coward"

"It was my mistake" Chanyeol said.

Baekhyun shook his head. "It was not. How were you supposed to know what was happening? Or the struggle she was going through? No matter how well we know someone, we can never truly know what goes in their mind. Some things are beyond our control. It's fucked up and it's unfair that we can't do something about it, but that's how it is. Don't blame yourself Chanyeol. It was not your fault"

Chanyeol heard the strange struggle in Baekhyun's voice as he was saying those words but he understood what was being told to him.

Baekhyun probably didn't know how thankful Chanyeol currently was for his presence. He didn't know long long he had been wanting to say these words but had always stopped himself. But most of all, what Baekhyun didn't know was that Chanyeol was finally able to breathe freely like a pair of hands wouldn't drag him down under the water again. He had finally closed the book he had kept opened for so long without closure.

Eyes tracing every part of Baekhyun's face, Chanyeol couldn't understand why he had chosen to open himself up to him so easily. This had never happened to him before but there was something about Baekhyun that wanted him to lay his life bare in front of him. 

"Are you doing okay now?" Chanyeol asked, turning towards Baekhyun. "Have you had any episodes of memory loss?"

Even though he was glad to have talked to Baekhyun, at that moment, he wanted to talk to him about anything but his own life.

Baekhyun shook his head. "No" he said, "Not since I've started dati..."

_Taehyuk..._

_Fuck... what the fuck am I doing? Fuck!_

_What did I just do?_ Baekhyun thought.  _I ... I just cheated on Taehyuk. Fuck!_

Baekhyun turned to look at Chanyeol who had understood the words Baekhyun hadn't spoken. Baekhyun didn't know what was happening. It was like he had suddenly been woken up from a deep slumber, one where he was dreaming of Chanyeol.

 _Please, please let it be a dream_ , Baekhyun wished, closing his eyes. But when he opened them, nothing had changed. Chanyeol was still sitting in front of him.

Baekhyun was beginning to hate himself for what he had done. How could he be this stupid? How did he not realise he was doing this to Taehyuk?

"Baek..." Chanyeol began but before he could say his name, the both of them heard a strange sound that came from outside the room.

Baekhyun turned and immediately stood up to run towards the door. Even though it looked like he wanted to find out who it was, the truth was that he wanted to run away from Chanyeol at that moment, even from his own self if he could.

Baekhyun rushed to the door and flung it open. He looked down the hallway but there was no one there, but right by the door, on the ground, was Baekhyun's wallet that he didn't even remember dropping. 

 

 


	25. Chapter 25

As Baekhyun ran across the hall and back into his room, all he could see was Taehyuk's face. How could he do something so despicable to someone who cared so deeply about him? Baekhyun knew he was not this person who cheats on anyone, but what he did, was nothing short of it.

He was disappointed in himself for giving into to temptation, even though it was the first time he had done something like this. Even though Chanyeol was the first person who made his heart beat like it would burst. Even tough kissing Chanyeol was wrong, why did it feel so right? Why did it feel like he finally belonged? Why did he feel things for Chanyeol he never did for Taehyuk? But none of this mattered because the truth was, he was with Taehyuk and everything he had just told himself were nothing but excuses. He had cheated on Taehyuk and no amount of excuse could erase that.

As Baekhyun laid down on his bed, the only thing that lingered in his mind was the taste of vanilla and caramel.

 

Next day Baekhyun was sitting with his friends in the cafeteria when Taehyuk came in, something which had become a very regular affair. He walked over to Baekhyun and sat beside him, planting a soft kiss on his cheeks. Baekhyun usually greeted him with a smile but on that particular day, his body stiffened at the touch.

 _Tell him, tell him what you did. Tell him that you cheated on him_.

He suddenly looked sick to the gut. 

"Are you okay?" Taehyuk asked, a little worried. He placed his hand on Baekhyun's forehead to check his temperature.

The moment he placed his hand on Baekhyun's forehead, Chanyeol waked in. His eyes fell on Taehyuk's hand and then on Baekhyun who was looking at him. 

Suddenly Baekhyun removed Taehyuk's hand, got up and walked away from the cafeteria, hoping none of them would follow him.

"What's wrong?" Taehyuk asked the others, but none of them knew.

Chanyeol, upon seeing Baekhyun act that way, suddenly lost the appetite that had finally built up after all these days. He turned around and felt too.

"Do you need anymore proof?" Luhan asked others.

"About what?" Chen asked, poking his food for no apparent reason.

"That Chanyeol likes Taehyuk. Did you not see how he reacted when he found Taehyuk sitting so close to Baekhyun?"

"We've already said we believe you once, why do you keep bringing this up again and again?" Kai asked. He was getting sick of the entire thing and the fact that now two of his friends were missing from the lunch table regularly, wasn't helping either. 

"Because I believe we still need to do something abo..."

Before Luhan could finish talking, Suho walked over to the table.

"Where is Kris?" he asked casually.

All three of them turned to look at him. They had never seen Suho even talk to Kris and now he was asking about him?

"Since when do you care where Kris is?" Chen asked.

Suho fidgeted with his hair nervously while giving out an awkward laugh. "I don't care where he is. Fine! Don't tell me". 

All three of them wondered why he had suddenly become so defensive. They had hung out a couple of time together during lunch, but they were hardly close enough to tell one the location of the other, especially when they weren't even friends.

"Wait" Luhan said suddenly and Suho turned around to look at him. "Do you perhaps know what is wrong with him?"

Suho looked at Luhan in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Kris has been acting really strange since the past couple of weeks. He has even stopped hanging out with us. All he does is sleeps and fucks the juniors. It had become a ritual"

Suho's eyes widened. "Where is he now?"

"In his room probably, fucking another junior"

Suho's face turned into a stone so quick upon hearing those words that they could have sworn it was their imagination.

"I don't know what's wrong with him" Suho simply said and walked away from them.

As he walked away, all Suho wished was for his heart to turn into a stone like his face so it wouldn't hurt like someone had ripped it to shreds.

 

When Chanyeol had entered the cafeteria, he had been hoping to sit with his friends and eat a hearty meal. Everything that transpired that night, gave him a better will to look forwards to the day rather than hole up in his room and dread everything. 

As he walked in, he had not expected to see Taehyuk there, and he had not expected to see Taehyuk's hand on Baekhyun's head or them sitting so close to each other. 

Chanyeol let out a silent scoff.  _Of course_ , he thought.  _Baekhyun is dating Taehyuk, is he not? So why should this be shocking?_

Chanyeol hadn't thought of what he and Baekhyun were after what happened last night. He didn't even know if there was a THEY, to begin with. He wanted Baekhyun all to himself, but he and Taehyuk had been dating for over three months now and he didn't want to be the one to break them up. What if Baekhyun regretted it later? Who would be the one to take the blame?

Certainly not Baekhyun. It wasn't his fault that Chanyeol decided to be so exposed to him and to show him how he felt. It wouldn't be Taehyuk's fault because he didn't really do anything. And thus he thought, this would entirely be his fault if the two of them broke up.

But the problem was, for the first time, Chanyeol wasn't feeling guilty over something he was convinced was his mistake.

He was prepared for Baekhyun's reaction when he saw him. He had prepared himself of all possibilities. He thought about it all night and then all day before he came for lunch. He taught his heart to not hurt. He thought he had mastered this art, but if he actually did, why was it still hurting so much?

 

When Chanyeol walked out of the cafeteria, wandering the halls and collecting his thoughts, he suddenly wanted to hold Baekhyun, kiss him, run his hands through his hair, trace his skin with his fingers. When he realised he wouldn't be able to do this, he felt alone like he had never before.

 _I need to do something_ , Chanyeol thought. But there wasn't anything he could actually do. He would never try to steal Baekhyun away from Taehyuk, that was completely against his nature. He would rather just give him up if that would make Baekhyun happy.

_That's it. That's what I need to do. I need to ask Baekhyun who would make him happy._

Holding on to this thought, Chanyeol rushed to find Baekhyun. He searched the classrooms, the labs, the fields, the changing rooms, the washrooms but Baekhyun was nowhere to be found. He then ran towards the dormitory, hoping Baekhyun would be in his room.

The moment he reached the dormitory door, he saw Baekhyun walking out of the main hall.

Chanyeol stopped. He was with Taehyuk.

Taehyuk looked at Chanyeol and waved at him, but Chanyeol didn't see it. His eyes were fixed on Baekhyun who was looking ahead into blank space, like he didn't even see Chanyeol standing there. 

In less than a few seconds, Baekhyun passed him, not sparing a moment of glance.

 _I guess he made his decision,_ Chanyeol thought as he walked straight ahead, not looking back at the boy who in less than 24 hours, had held his heart and broken in into a million pieces.

 


	26. Chapter 26

Baekhyun had been trying to convince himself to tell Taehyuk the truth all day, but as each minute passed, the secret got heavier and heavier with clouded thoughts and judgement.

 

After dinner, Taehyuk pulled his car in front of Baekhyun's dormitory to drop him off.

"Did you have fun today?" Taehyuk asked looking at Baekhyun who was staring into his own hands.

"I have to tell you something" Baekhyun said, turning to Taehyuk. The sudden announcement made Taehyuk a little surprised.

"What is it?" he asked. He had never seen Baekhyun nervous before and he had to admit, it was kind of cute.

Baekhyun was struggling with words, trying to find ones that would hurt Taehyuk the least. But how would that even work? He had cheated on him, only lies would hurt him the least but he deserved the truth, Baekhyun knew that. He had been so good to him all this time and Baekhyun hated himself for breaking his heart.

"I really like you Taehyuk but I don't think I deserve someone as good as you. You are nice and kind and trusting. I am the opposite of that. I am vile and broken and a very bad person"

Taehyuk didn't understand where this was going. 

"What is this? A break up speech?" Taehyuk said with a faint laughter. 

The slight humor in Taehyuk's voice gave Baekhyun the reassurance he needed. He felt less nervous than he previously had.

"I am sorry Taehyuk, but you do deserve better"

"You're the better I deserve Baekhyun" Taehyuk whispered softly. "I don't need anyone else"

Baekhyun shook his head. "No Taehyuk.  I am not who you think I am. I am not this angel that you make me out to be. I am not perfect like you keep saying. I am not worthy of your trust and patience. I am not worthy of anyone's trust or patience for that matter"

Taehyuk took Baekhyun's hand in his own.

"Baekhyun, who told you all these things? Who said you're not worth all this?"

"No one has to say it because it's the truth. It's what I feel. I am really sorry Taehyuk, but you do deserve better. You deserve anyone who is not me"

"What are you talking about Baekhyun it's no..."

"I cheated on you" Baekhyun blurted out, with his eyes shut tightly, before Taehyuk could finish what he was saying. Taehyuk released Baekhyun's hands from his own.

There was a moment of heavy silence between them and all Baekhyun could hear was Taehyuk's shallow breathing. He wouldn't mind if Taehyuk punched him in the gut or on his face, it would be nothing compared to what Baekhyun had done to him.

Taehyuk did not speak, nor did he react after he sunk the words in his mind properly.

Baekhyun opened his eyes. "Please just yell at me or hit me or at least say something... anything, just please don't be quiet"

Taehyuk turned to look at Baekhyun. "Who was it?" he asked in a calm voice.

Baekhyun had expected anger, loath, regret in his voice but Taehyuk did not display any signs of emotions. 

"It doesn't matter who it was" Baekhyun said softly, trying to salvage the situation in anyway that he could. 

"It matters to me. I think I deserve to know who it was"

Taehyuk was right and Baekhyun knew it. 

"It was Chanyeol"

As the words escaped Baekhyun's lips, he saw Taehyuk's expressions change. His brows furrowed and his jaws clenched. 

"Did you guys sleep together?" he asked.

Baekhyun's eyes widened. "What? No. We kissed. It was just as kiss."

 _It was a kiss I initiated,_ Baekhyun thought. But Taehyuk didn't have to know that. It would hurt him more.

Taehyuk inhaled deeply. He was now clutching the steering wheel with all the power he had in him. But soon, he released it and turned towards Baekhyun. 

"So it really was a 'It's not you it's me' kind of breakup? Wasn't it?"

Baekhyun's eyes shot up in disbelief. Taehyuk was smiling through all this pain. How was he smiling at this?

"It's okay Baekhyun, I guess some things are not meant to be" he said softly and it was then that Baekhyun felt the hurt in his voice.

"I am sorry Taehyuk. I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't plan this to happen. But now that it has, it is only fair that I be honest to you"

Taehyuk smiled at Baekhyun with empathy. "I am glad that you told me the truth. And I am happy that you respect me enough for that. But you broke my heart Baekhyun"

The last words lingered in Baekhyun's ears for a long time. Sorry just wasn't a big enough word to compensate for Taehyuk's pain.

"Can you do me one last favour?" Taehyuk asked.

"Yes. Anything" Baekhyun said. He literally would do anything Taehyuk asked him to.

"Go out with me one last time" Taehyuk said with a plea.

Baekhyun didn't have it in him to say no. "Yes" he said immediately.

Taehyuk smiled. "Then let's meet next Friday night" he said. "I'll pick you up"

Baekhyun nodded at the agreement happily. If this is what Taehyuk wanted, Baekhyun would give it to him.

 

Chanyeol had been walking around the dormitory door for almost an hour, checking his watch regularly. 

_Why isn't he back yet?_

Even though Chanyeol had told himself repeatedly that it was none of his business, that Baekhyun had chosen Taehyuk over him, he still couldn't convince his heart of not waiting for him.

"Why are you so late?" Chanyeol yelled as he saw Baekhyun enter the dark hallway.

"Fuck" Baekhyun said, holding his heart that had jumped out of his body because of the sudden attack. "You scared me you fucking piece of shit"

"WHY ARE YOU LATE?" Chanyeol asked again, not sure why he repeated it or even asked the question in the first place. It was not like he had any rights.

"What are you? My grandmother?" Baekhyun asked as he walked past him.

Chanyeol rushed over and pulled Baekhyun by his arms.

Baekhyun turned around and his hands landed on Chanyeol's chest for support. He stared into his eyes as Chanyeol waited for him to speak.

"Answer me" he said softly. The voice made Baekhyun's heart melt momentarily. 

"I do not owe you an answer" he said coldly and turned around, walking away from him.

Something in Chanyeol's heart sank upon hearing those words. 

Chanyeol ran to him again and this time, ran past him to prevent him from walking further. Was the kiss really that big of a mistake for Baekhyun to regret it so much that he would ignore Chanyeol flat out and be this cold?

He was ready to try everything that would make Baekhyun talk to him, anything that would make him stay for a while because this whole situation was making Chanyeol very nervous.

"Baekhyun" Chanyeol said softly. "I am sorry for what happened yesterday. I know it shouldn't have happened because you're with Taehyuk and I know it was sudden and rushed. But for god's sake do not ignore me"

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol's face that was a mixture of plea and hope. He sighed.

Walking closer to Chanyeol, he placed his hand on Chanyeol's chest and tiptoed to reach his gaze. 

"I do not owe you an answer fucktard" he whispered to Chanyeol, his lips barely and inch away.

With that, he pushed Chanyeol aside and walked into the dark hallways.

Chanyeol didn't know why his head was spinning. He also did not understand the strange feeling that was emerging in his gut. He was mad at Baekhyun for treating him so coldly. But he knew it was his own fault so he couldn't really blame the smaller. But Baekhyun behaving like he was, was so hot that he couldn't ignore the bulge in his pants that came into life after hearing Baekhyun's words.

He looked down at his throbbing erection. "Shut up" he said before walking towards his own room.

 

When Baekhyun reached his room, he recollected what he had said to Taehyuk. Having it off of his chest made him feel lighter, more free. He knew it was the right thing to do. Then his mind wandered off to Chanyeol.

Baekhyun smiled at how authoritatively he had asked where Baekhyun was.

 _Dumbfuck_ , Baekhyun thought as he couldn't stop smiling. But then he remembered his coldness towards him and his smile disappeared. A strange ache erupted in his heart when he remembered Chanyeol's words. 

_'I am sorry for what happened yesterday. I know it shouldn't have happened because you're with Taehyuk and I know it was sudden and rushed. But for god's sake do not ignore me'_

_How can I not ignore you Chanyeol? That's the only right thing I am doing currently._

Baekhyun's heart ached for Chanyeol. But he was convinced that him kissing Chanyeol was wrong not only for Taehyuk but also for Chanyeol. If he could so easily give in to temptations once, what's stopping him from cheating on Chanyeol if such a situation arose?

Even tough his skin cried to hold Chanyeol, he knew it was not right. Baekhyun was not right for him. Chanyeol deserved someone who loved him wholly and not someone who was a cheater. How was Baekhyun different from the girl Chanyeol had dated in school? How was Baekhyun even worthy of someone who was so pure at heart?

Baekhyun was exactly the same. And it was not only the cheating part that was similar between the two, it was also the fact that Baekhyun was suicidal too. How many times had he wanted to kill himself? How many times had he wanted to stop breathing? If only he had been successful, he wouldn't be the reason behind the mess that he had created.

How was it always his fault when something bad happened?

Baekhyun's mind ran wildly now. He had no control over his own thoughts.

He faintly recollected his mother's words to him.

_'It's your fault that this happened. It's your fault.... it's your fault'_

_It's my fault,_ Baekhyun thought. 

He had heard those words for so long that he had started to believe it. It was the first time in the past few years that he had forgotten all about it after he came to this school. After he met Chanyeol.

 _Always my fault_.

Suddenly, flashes of that horrid night pierced his mind.

The rain... midnight... his room... the creaking of his door... that figure looming over his bed... fear... Baekhyun running... the figure chasing him... kitchen... knife... a stab... a thud... blood.

 _What is this?_ Baekhyun didn't understand.  _Was this a memory, or a dream?_

What Baekhyun recollected had always been a part of his dream and he had no memory of it awake.

Before Baekhyun could dig into his brain more, his breath hitched and he felt like he was suffocating.

He fell on the floor, trying to catch his breath. He tried to call Yixing out, but no words escaped his mouth. Slowly, he drifted into the darkness as he closed his eyes.

 

When Baekhyun woke up the next morning, he was still lying on the floor. He got up and saw it was barely 6 am and Yixing was still sleeping on his bed. Baekhyun walked over to the washroom and took a shower.

When he came out, he rummaged through his wardrobe.

_Where the fuck is my leather jacket and my eyeliner?_

 


	27. Chapter 27

"Are you okay now?" Xiumin asked Baekhyun as they met in chemistry class.

Baekhyun nodded.

Xiumin shifted his eyes all over Baekhyun. He was dressed in his black leathery stuff again and was wearing an eyeliner that was as sharp as a razor. "It's been long since I last saw you wear it"

Baekhyun shrugged. "I just felt like it"

They settled down when the class began. Baekhyun tried to see from the corner of his eyes if Chanyeol was there. When he couldn't find him, he let out a grunt.

"What's the matter?" Xiumin asked, turning to Baekhyun. "Do you feel sick again?"

Baekhyun adjusted himself in his seat. "No I am fine" and they went back to the lecture.

_Where the fuck is Park Chanyeol?_

Suddenly everything around him was uninteresting. He was not interested in the class or what was being taught. He was not interested in Tao who was sitting behind Suho and trying to stick a 'Surprise me with a kiss' sign on his back, he was not interested in the formulas being written on the board which he usually loved and he was not interested in anything that had nothing to do with Chanyeol.

 _What the fuck am I thinking?_ Baekhyun thought.  _Why is he bothering me so much?_

Baekhyun had never thought of him or anyone else like he was thinking of Chanyeol. It was like every inch of his mind was occupied by the giant.

 _It's because of Baekhyun._   _It's because of what they did. It's because he needs to stay away from us._  
  


When the class ended and Math was about to start, Baekhyun had already decided to ditch. He got up to leave before the teacher could come in when he saw Chanyeol walk through the doors.

Chanyeol looked at him from top to bottom. Suddenly something changed in his eyes, like he knew, like he had found out the secret Baekhyun had been harboring. 

"Good Morning class" the teacher said as he walked past Chanyeol and into the classroom. 

Baekhyun did not waste any time. He stormed towards the door.

"Follow me" he whispered lightly only for Chanyeol to hear on his way out. Chanyeol stared at the class and at the teacher once before turning around and following Baekhyun in silence.  
  


"What the fuck do  _you_ want?" Chanyeol asked once they were inside the empty room. Just the two of them.

"Where were you?" Baekhyun asked and then shut himself up. Why did he even care where Chanyeol was?  _For Baekhyun, I care for Baekhyun._

"And why should I tell you?" Chanyeol asked in protest.

"Shouldn't you?" Baekhyun let out a mocking laughter. "You were demanding all sorts of answers from me last night!"

Suddenly Baekhyun rushed over to Chanyeol and before the latter could register his move, Baekhyun caught Chanyeol's lips in his own.

At first Chanyeol didn't respond. His eyes were wide open, trying to analyse the situation. Every bone in his body was trying to tell him to kiss back, but he couldn't. Because it was Baekhyun after all.

As the suddenly realisation dawned on him, he pushed Baekhyun away.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he asked.

Baekhyun smiled. "Am I doing something we haven't done before?"

Chanyeol looked red with anger. " _We_  haven't done anything" he yelled. "I and Baekhyun kissed. You're not him"

Baekhyun looked at him strangely.  _Does he know? How could he?_

He smiled mischievously. "And I am not Baekhyun? Is that what you're trying to say?"

Chanyeol was confused. This whole situation with Baekhyun was so tricky.

"You may be him, but he isn't you. He is nothing like you. He is the person I kissed. Not you"

"How loyal of you Park Chanyeol" Baekhyun said "and yes you're right. I am not Baekhyun. I am nothing like him. I am not as stupid as him to want to kill myself. I, unlike him, want to live"

Chanyeol heard everything Baekhyun was saying but he didn't understand why he was constantly referring to himself in third person.  _Are personality changes so extreme? Can they be so vast that they start thinking of themselves as different people?_

"Why am I here?" Chanyeol asked. He had no intentions to entertain Dark Baekhyun anymore.

Baekhyun smiled again. "I am here to tell you to stay away from Baekhyun. You can fool him with the sudden flip in your behavior towards him, but you can't fool me"

"What do you mean?" Chanyeol asked. "And who are you to stop me from anything?"

"I am a part of Baekhyun, Chanyeol. I am him and he is me. We are one"

Chanyeol stared at him for along time. "Bring him back"

"No" Baekhyun said sternly.

"I said BRING HIM BACK" Chanyeol yelled. 

A smirk played out on Baekhyun's face. "Why? So you could use him and manipulate him like he has always been? So you can break him further? You are as fucked up as he is Chanyeol. You think you can save him? A person like you who couldn't even save his own girlfriend?"

The moment the words escaped Baekhyun's lips, he knew he shouldn't have said them. It was a low blow and he was better than that. No matter how bitchy he could be, he would never hound a person on their insecurities unless they were doing the same to him.

Chanyeol stared at the figure standing in front of him. It was then that he knew that the person standing there was very different from the Baekhyun he had come to know. 

For the first time since they had come in, Chanyeol smiled, more out of pity than out of humor. It made Baekhyun confuse. 

"You were right when you said you and Baekhyun aren't same. He would never stoop as low as you" Chanyeol spat.

Baekhyun looked at him in amusement, like he wanted to challenge everything he knew, everything he believed.

"Wouldn't he now? How can you be so sure Chanyeol?"

Was he? Could Chanyeol be sure? Did he know Baekhyun enough to stand up to this claim?

"Stay away from him if you want your peaceful life back. You guys have already fucked up. Taehyuk was good for him but you had to go and fuck that up too, didn't you?" Baekhyun said.

_What is he talking about? What did I fuck up?_

It was probably apparent on Chanyeol's face that he didn't know what Baekhyun was talking about.

"Oh you don't know, do you?" he asked. "That's right, Baekhyun didn't tell you"

"Tell me what?"

"Last night..." Baekhyun started playing with his fingers suddenly, like trying to avoid eye contact for some reason, "... Baekhyun broke up with Taehyuk"

"He did what?" Chanyeol suddenly asked. He couldn't help but feel the twisting of something in his gut.  _Did he break up because of me? Does it mean that he chose me?_

"He broke up with him" Baekhyun repeated but then went on to smile deviously.

"Taehyuk wants to go on a last date with him next Friday... and guess what?"

Baekhyun left the question hanging in the air but when Chanyeol didn't respond, Baekhyun continued.

"I will tell him that I was being stupid and that I do not want to break up with him. I will apologise profusely for being an idiot and I will beg and I will keep begging till he accepts Baekhyun back"

Baekhyun ended the sentence with a strange satisfaction that Chanyeol had never seen before. 

"And you think Baekhyun will just go along with it?" Chanyeol asked. 

"You never know what happens Chanyeol. Baekhyun isn't as innocent as you think he is. You do not know what he thinks about you"

"What does that mean?" Chanyeol asked. He was starting to feel the anger well inside of him.

Baekhyun scoffed. "What makes you think I'll tell you? Ask him yourself,  _if_  he ever sees the light of the day"

With that, Baekhyun turned around and left Chanyeol thinking about what he had just said.   
  


 


	28. Chapter 28

As  _Dark_ Baekhyun walked out of the room, the only thing that revolved in his mind was Chanyeol. And the fact that he has kissed him.

_What the fuck is wrong with you? You don't even like him. In fact you hate him._

Having no intention to go on with the classes, Baekhyun walked into his room. He lied down and closed his eyes.

Ever since Baekhyun and Chanyeol had kissed,  _dark_  Baekhyun had been curious himself to find out what it felt like. And he finally knew. It was then that he understood why poems and proses were written on kisses. Why it was so important to people and why was it that people craved for it more and more. 

Even though he remembered the way Chanyeol had kissed Baekhyun, even tough he could recall every second, every touch, he did not know what it felt like. Only Baekhyun knew that. And for the first time,  _dark_ Baekhyun was jealous of Baekhyun experiencing something so good that it made him feel butterflies in his stomach; he was jealous of Baekhyun feeling something that he did not, or probably never will.

As Baekhyun remembered the events of that night more and more, he found himself drifting away. The feeling of nostalgia clouded his mind and he could feel something shift within himself.

Before he could know or control,  _dark_ Baekhyun suddenly snapped shut and Baekhyun came back to life. But this time, he didn't feel like someone had snatched the air out of his lungs or punched his guts. It was so subtle and so quick, that he didn't even notice.

Baekhyun opened his eyes, thinking he must have been sleeping. But then he looked at the black clothes he was wearing and realised it was another memory loss.

 _What day is it?_  

He quickly looked at his watch and sighed in relief. He had only lost a couple of hours. 

Immediately getting up, he proceeded to change his clothes before heading to the class again.

 

By the time Baekhyun reached the class, Math was over and English was due to start.

He simply walked in and sat beside Xiumin.

"You skipped math so you could change your clothes?" Xiumin asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"I was feeling uncomfortable" Baekhyun said with a nervous laugh, not knowing how to explain it.

Chanyeol who was sitting on the last seat in the class tilted his head a little when he heard Baekhyun's voice. When he saw what he was wearing, he went back to sleep but this time, there was smile playing at his lips.

 

Luhan brought dinner to Chanyeol sooner than it was time for them to go to the cafeteria and eat. 

"What's this?" Chanyeol asked, looking at the covered food tray in Luhan's hand.

"Your dinner!"

"And you are bringing it to me because?"

Before Luhan could answer, Chen, Kai, Kris and Sehun barged in with their own food trays and Sehun held both his and Luhan's.

"We're all eating here" Kris announced.

"I could have come to the cafeteria so what's with all this excessive love?"

Chen shrugged. "We just felt like it"

Chanyeol did not ask anymore questions even though their behaviour was seemingly off.

"And you're here because?" Chanyeol turned towards Sehun.

Sehun cleared his throat and looked at Luhan from the corner of his eyes. It was obvious Chanyeol didn't know about him and Luhan yet.

"I was bored" Sehun said before Luhan could come up with a viable excuse.

The whole situation was crazy and Chanyeol shook his head. He did not even want to find out anymore.

Halfway through dinner, Kai started to speak.

"Did you start going to therapy again?" Kai asked Chanyeol, who shook his head. It had been almost three months now.

"Well you need to or you'll have to repeat the year" Chen announced.

"It's not helping me, what is the use?" Chanyeol was not comfortable talking about this but he also did not want to repeat a year.

Kris turned to him. "That's coz you keep lying to the therapist. You need to accept your past"

Chanyeol noticed a strange note of settlement in his voice, like Kris knew what he was talking about.

"It's already Saturday and then there's Christmas holidays so I won't be able to go before Friday"

_Friday, the day Baekhyun is meeting Taehyuk for a date._

"That's right" Luhan interrupted. Chanyeol noticed the subtle nudge that Sehun made at him. "What are you doing during the holidays?" 

Chanyeol shrugged, pursing his lips. "Nothing. I am not going home for sure"

Everyone knew how he hated going back to the place that brought in all the bad memories he had been hiding. 

"Then you're coming with us" Kris added.

"Where to?"

"There are some of us who are not going home for Christmas so Mr. Richie Rich here" Kai said pointing to Kris, "has decided to be a generous host and open his vacation house to us during the holiday"

Chanyeol heard hoots of encouragement coming from Chen, Luhan and Sehun.

"Are you sure you want these people from school at your house?" Chanyeol asked in concern.

"They're not strangers" Kris said. "It's just our gang, a few juniors I know and Baekhyun's gang"

The mere mention of Baekhyun's name lifted Chanyeol's spirit up which he did not understand himself. He had every mind to say no to Kris and spend the holiday at school or wherever he could be alone, but now that he knew Baekhyun was coming, he knew he had to go too.

But the only problem was, which Baekhyun would accompany them?

"How long will we be there for?" Chanyeol asked casually, not wanting to show that he was jumping with excitement from the inside. 

"Just until a day or two after Christmas" Kris said.

Chanyeol was hoping it would be after Friday so Baekhyun could miss his date.

"Good" Chanyeol said instead. "Because I have to be back for... umm... my therapy on Friday", 

Chanyeol had no clue about what he had just said, neither did the rest of them so they all chose to ignore it and focus on finishing meals while they drifted over to topics ranging from how Kris couldn't keep it in his pants to the new Avengers movie they're all excited about.

 

 

 

The holidays had officially started. 

Chanyeol woke up earlier than he intended to and found that Luhan was not on his bed. With each passing second, he grew more excited.

As he walked into the cafeteria, he saw his friends sitting and talking.

"So they dropped out?" Luhan asked and Kris nodded.

"That means it's only us and Baekhyun's gang?" Chen asked.

"Yes the rest don't want to go coz Chanyeol's going" Kris replied.

"That doesn't make sense. How is this Chanyeol's fault?" Kai yelled.

Chanyeol was about to approach them but upon hearing his name, he halted.

"Fucking juniors" Chen said in frustration. "Do they think Chanyeol would have really let his girlfriend die if he had any idea of what she was about to do?"

Chanyeol froze. 

_Did I hear them right? What are they talking about? How did they know? How did the juniors know?_

Chanyeol was dabbling between fuming anger and embarrassment. 

_How did they find out? How did anyone find out? I am the only one who knows... except..._

_BAEKHYUN!_

The moment the name played out in his mind, he found Baekhyun walking into the cafeteria with his friends.

Every cell in Chanyeol's body was burning with anger. He had kept so much aside, risked so much to be able to trust Baekhyun and tell him what he had been hiding for years. No one knew, not even his parents or his closest friend. And it was Baekhyun that Chanyeol had chosen to lay his trust on. And what did he get? Betrayal. 

Without wasting any time, Chanyeol charged towards Baekhyun, his eyes mad with rage and grabbed him by the collar. 

"Why did you do it?" Chanyeol asked.

Baekhyun had no clue what he was talking about and the look of indifference on his face made Chanyeol angrier. Before anyone could stop him, Chanyeol punched Baekhyun across his face, making him fall to the ground. Chanyeol rushed to pick him up to hit him but Suho stopped him. Chanyeol did not care who it was, he was angry beyond a point he could control anymore. Without any warning, he flung his hand towards Suho's face which the latter dodged and in the next second, Suho ran his fist through Chanyeol's face.

Witnessing what was happening, Chanyeol's friends rushed over.

Before anyone could understand what was happening, they were at each other's throat, punching whoever tried to stop them.

After much struggle, multiple injuries and a lot of blood, the two groups were finally separated.

"There goes a perfectly good holiday" Kyungsoo said as he walked out of the cafeteria with his friends. 

"When did you guys find out?" Chanyeol asked.

No one answered. 

"WHEN THE FUCK DID YOU GUYS FIND OUT?" Chanyeol asked again, in anger.

"Last night" Chen said in a low voice.

 _So it wasn't_ dark _Baekhyun who did this_ , Chanyeol thought, considering how  _dark_  Baekhyun had disappeared earlier in the day.  _It was you._

"I will kill him" Chanyeol's friends heard him say as they too walked out of the cafeteria through the opposite door. "I swear I will kill him"

 


	29. Chapter 29

Upon Kai's insistence, Chanyeol and his friends still decided to go to the vacation house to lay off some steam. Kai believed it would be better for them to not be at school for a few days considering how their raw emotions were still hung in the air.

There were many things Kai was failing to understand. First, why Chanyeol had hit Baekhyun. It was common knowledge that they didn't like each other, but never had things escalated to this level before. Second, why each group had beaten each other to a pulp. Third, when Kyungsoo had a chance to hit Kai, he had hesitated, so much so that he got punched by Chen when he had his guard down. And fourth, Kai didn't understand why watching Kyungsoo being beaten by Chen bothered him and why he felt a sharp pang in his heart when the feeling to protect him rose inside of Kai's chest.

None of that mattered anymore. Something told him this feud was something that would go beyond sitting and talking the problems out. And it hurt him that he would now never even have a chance to understand what Kyungsoo's feelings for Kai were.

Hoping the holiday would clear his mind of Kyungsoo, Kai insisted that they still go. Even if it was just the six of them; especially because it was just the six of them.   
  


Despite his will telling him not to, Chanyeol packed his bag while he was trembling with fury over Baekhyun and how easily he had broken his trust. 

_Kai is right. I need to be out of this place. If I see him once again, I might kill him._   
  


With that, they all set out to Kris's vacation house that was 5 hours drive from the school.  
  
  
  


Baekhyun was pacing in his room, trying to comprehend what had happened and what had triggered Chanyeol to make him that angry. He looked around as his friends tended to their wounds. 

 _Chanyeol did this._ And Baekhyun did not even know why.

 _Am I the problem? Did I do something I don't even remember?_ It was five years back all over again. Just like when he was suddenly sent to the asylum where no one told him why he was there. The place where he spent two years of his life, caged in a straight-jacket for as long as he could remember.

All he knew while he was there was that he must have done something very grave for even his parents to abandon him like that. Something so bad that he chose to forget it rather than live with it. And whatever this was that was happening with Chanyeol, gave him the same bitter taste in his mouth that the medicines in the asylum had.

Baekhyun glanced his eyes across each of his friends. People he had come to call his own. People that now were like family.

He looked at everyone but could not remember how the friendship started. Why they had chosen to be his friend. Since five years, Baekhyun had battled depression and suicidal thoughts alone. He had battled his life alone. He was not a loner, but time had taught him that it was better for him to not have friends. He had taught himself that a long time ago. Ever since half a decade ago, everyone Baekhyun came to call a friend disappeared one by one. Maybe it was karma for it was Baekhyun who started doing it first. Quitting on school and Sehun all those years ago, it was him who decided to keep everyone away from him. So was he in any position to complain when he was left abandoned every time he trusted someone?

Baekhyun could just feel since then that no one was safe around him. And it proved time and again when one after the other, people started quitting on him. 

_I will always be alone._

Baekhyun had wired that into his brain and it had become an addiction.

And yet in the first week of school, he somehow found himself in the company of these people who were broken, just like he was. And with time, he understood how they were helping each other live life one day at a time. Baekhyun understood how belonged he felt with them and when he was with his friends, Baekhyun didn't feel like he was a piece of puzzle that wouldn't fit anywhere.

But what had it come to? As his eyes swept across the room, he saw the bruises they had suffered because of him. Each of them had risked their lives to fight for Baekhyun and what was he giving them in return? Danger?

Baekhyun realised something then.

_It's not just that I have a problem... I am the problem._

In that moment, Baekhyun made a decision he knew he would regret, but it was the only way he could keep his friends away from harm.  
  


The holidays passed slowly. Even if Chanyeol and his friends had gone to an isolated mansion deep in the woods, he had thought the fresh air and tranquility would help him heal. But involuntarily his mind kept drifting off to Baekhyun. At first it was anger, so much so that he was ready to destroy anything and everything that would try to subside his anger. He then moved to empathy. Trying to understand all possible reasons why Baekhyun would do that.

_Perhaps someone blackmailed him? Perhaps someone tricked him into it. Perhaps he didn't mean to say it but it slipped. Perhaps Baekhyun had a reason. Perhaps... Perhaps... Perhaps._

Once he stopped empathising, he settled with acceptance. It didn't matter why Baekhyun did what he did. What mattered was that he did it. Had it been something Baekhyun accidentally found out, it wouldn't matter to Chanyeol if he yelled at the top of his lungs for the whole school to hear.

But it was something Chanyeol had told him in full confidence; gathering courage from a source he didn't even know existed within him. A source he believed came into existence because of Baekhyun. It took him all he had to tell Baekhyun of his past, something no one else knew apart from him. And Baekhyun had casually passed it along like it was his secret to share.

It was then Chanyeol realised that he was hurt. The pain of betrayal he felt, was surfacing from his heart that had been crushed with the weight of Baekhyun's actions.  
  


The holidays had also been very torturous for Kai. He did not understand why Kyungsoo had not hit him. Why had he chosen to get beaten by Chen rather than just beat him up. That look in Kyungsoo's eyes was what bothered him the most. It was the same look he had seen in Kris's eyes when he faced Suho and how each of them just turned around. If only Kyungsoo had hit him like he was punching and kicking other people, Kai would be much at ease.

But the feeling had not settled down even after two days at the cabin. He knew he needed to find answers and he knew just who'd have them.  
  


"Kris" Kai pulled Kris by the arm and led him out on the porch, away from the warmth of the fireplace inside.

"Fuck" Kris had followed Kai out and he did not even have a jacket on. "Why do you want to kill me?"

Kai rolled his eyes. "You won't die of standing here for five minutes"

"Can you just come to the point? Or we're here just to check how long I can last without being dead"

Kai hesitated. He didn't know how to approach this topic. Talking about sex was easy with Kris, considering the sex freak he was. But he had never really talked to him about feelings before.

"I need to ask you something". Kai was not even looking him in the eyes. It made Kris suspicious.

"What is it?"

Kai took a deep breath. The chilly wind passed through his nostrils and into his lungs, giving out a misty warm breath.

"When we were fighting back then..." Kai said "... I want to know why you and Jumnyeon didn't hit each other when you were face to face"

Kai noticed Kris's demeanor change. He became more attentive towards Kai. He became more stiff.

"Why do you want to know?" Kris asked, suddenly a little defensive. 

"I need to understand something so please tell me"

"Tell me what you need to understand and I will tell you" Kris replied.

"Please Kris" Kai pleaded and Kris noted the sadness in his voice mixed with desperation. He then realised that Kai was his friend, not his enemy and keeping this inside of him was already killing him a little everyday.

Kris sighed. "I don't know why Suho did it, but I couldn't bring myself to hit him. I would rather get him by him a hundred times"

Was this what Kyungsoo felt too? Kai didn't know and he had no way of knowing.

"Why couldn't you do it?" Kai asked. "You are one of our best fighters, why would you rather just get hit?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kris asked. It was not, not to Kai. "It's because I like Suho. A lot. I have liked him since I can't even remember when"

Kai settled the thought inside of him mind. If what Kris said was right, then it meant that...

"Why were you asking?" Kris suddenly interrupted Kai's thought.

Kai stared at him, wondering if he should tell him. The two gangs had become enemies now. What good would it do to bring this up? But he knew he owed Kris an answer and he knew he would never lie to his friends.

"The reason Chen was able to hit Kyungsoo that day was because he lowered his guard"

"And?" Kris asked. 

"And it happened because he was standing in front of me with his fist raised, but he couldn't hit me. He had the same look in his eyes as you did with Suho"

Just as the words escaped Kai's lips, he realised what it meant. In fact, he had realised this long back, he just wasn't ready to accept it. He wasn't ready to come to terms with the fact that Kyungsoo liked him.

But most of all what he was refusing to come to terms with was that when Kyungoo was in front of him that day, fist drawn out, ready to launch,  Kai had felt the same way as Kris did too. Kai felt that he would rather be beaten to death by Kyungsoo than lay a hand on him.  
  
  
  


Back at school, no one understood what was up with Baekhyun anymore. Since the day after the fight, Baekhyun would disappear early in the morning and resurface back at night after everyone had slept. 

They celebrated Christmas eve without him and they celebrated Christmas without him. None of it was actually a celebration because Baekhyun wasn't there.

On the night after Christmas, Yixing stayed up late, hoping to catch Baekhyun and ask him what was up.

At around 3 in the morning, Yixing heard the door open. He had been struggling to keep himself awake only to be able to talk to Baekhyun once.

"Where have you been?" Yixing asked, leaping up from his bed and walking towards were Baekhyun was. 

That's when he saw it. Baekhyun was slouching against the wall, trying to stand straight. At first Yixing thought Baekhyun was hurt. He ran over to hold him up when he smelled the bitter stench of alcohol and stale cigarettes on him.

"What the fuck have you been up to?" he asked.

Baekhyun said something that was incomprehensible. Yixing knew it was useless to talk to him in that state so he carried Baekhyun to his bed and laid him down.

"We'll talk in the morning" he said, looking over at the body that was limp on the bed.

The next morning when he woke up, Baekhyun was gone again, like he had since the day before Christmas Eve.


	30. Chapter 30

Thursday had finally arrived and Chanyeol and his friends were back from the holiday early morning. Coming back to the campus turned into an unpleasant experience for Chanyeol. The silent whispers, the stolen glances, the look of pity in everyone's eyes made him regret his return.

 

 

 

 

_None of this matters. Your friends believe you Chanyeol. The rest do not matter._

Telling himself these words, he stepped into the dormitory. It was officially school day and they knew they had to get back into classes as soon as they were done unpacking. Although all Chanyeol wanted was to hide in his room for days, he had promised his friends that he will not do that anymore and even agreed to therapy on Friday. How could he refuse after everything his friends had done for him?

As Chanyeol walked down the halls of the dorm, his mind aimlessly wandered to Baekhyun and where he was and what he was doing. Suddenly he found his heart beating faster than normal. 

_Fuck. Stop thinking about him. He is no one to you. NO ONE._

 

 

 

 

It was beyond Chanyeol's control. He hated Baekhyun but he hated the fact that his absence was piercing his mind even more. 

Almost four classes had passed, out of which three were classes he and Baekhyun had together but he was nowhere to be seen. He wondered if  _Dark_ Baekhyun had come back. But even if he had, it was not like he had missed classes like this. 

_Why the fuck am I worried? He can go fuck himself for all I care._

As the lunch break approached, Chanyeol found himself sitting with his friends but his ears glued to Baekhyun's friends' conversation. 

And he had no clue why he was doing that because he had told himself a million times since the morning that he didn't care about Baekhyun. But he failed to understand why his heart raced every time he thought about him.

"Didn't you get to speak to him?" Suho asked as Yixing shook his head.

"When I woke up, he was gone again"

 _Again?_  Chanyeol hung to the word like his life depended on it.

"Are you sure he was not hurt?" it was Kyungsoo's voice.

"No I checked but he was drunk beyond his wits. Even he wouldn't know if he was hurt" Yixing replied.

"Do you know where he goes everyday?" Tao asked.

"Not  clue. I don't know where he has been since day before Christmas eve. All I know is that he is getting his ass drunk every day, all day"

_Day before Christmas eve? It was they day we fought._

_What is this? What are they saying?_

In all the time that they had known each other, Chanyeol had never seen Baekhyun drunk. Not once. He remembered when his classmates had decided to host a secret party in one of their dorm rooms. The entire batch had got so drunk that they slept on top of each other in the same room because no one was conscious enough to even sit up straight. And all night, as he remembered clearly, Baekhyun had gone with just drinking coke. He refused every drink every time someone asked him.

So what was this sudden change? He was skipping school, ignoring his friends, getting drunk and just disappearing without as much as a word?

Every fiber in Chanyeol's body was telling him to get up and walk over to Baekhyun's friends and ask them about Baekhyun; anything and everything that would help him find out where he was, but he knew it wasn't a good idea. He knew no one would tell him anything, especially after what had happened between them. But most importantly, Chanyeol wasn't sure if he had any rights to ask.

 

 

 

 

Kai had noticed how unusually quiet Chanyeol was. He wanted to ask what was up but he noticed how Chanyeol occasionally glanced at the table where all of Baekhyun's friends were sitting. Kai also noticed how Chanyeol was trying to listen in on them. So Kai did the same.

He noticed that Chanyeol's demeanor had changed. He was quiet and relaxed before but now he looked stiff and agitated.

_What is this? Does he want to start another fight with Baekhyun?_

Kai knew if that would happen, he and others would support Chanyeol without a flicker of doubt, but he wasn't sure if he was ready to let Kyungsoo get beaten up again just because he was temporarily distracted by Kai. If they were fighting, it was inevitable this would happen. And he didn't want to be the reason Kyungsoo was hurt.

 

 

 

 

After lunch, Kyungsoo and his friends walked past the stairs near the corridor that led to their class.

Kai had been standing behind the door, waiting for his moment. When he saw Kyungsoo pass the door, he quietly slipped out and pulled the shorter male by his collar and out through the door to the secluded stairs.

Kyungsoo who had no clue what had just happened, drew out a knife from his pocket, turned around and pinned Kai against the wall with the blade against his throat.

Kai gasped but Kyungsoo did not release him. The knife was still sitting across Kai's slender neck.

"What the fuck do you want?" Kyungsoo asked.

Kai noticed the coldness in his voice. It made him question everything he has been thinking about him so far. Maybe he overthought. Maybe he read too much between the lines to form a story that didn't exist. Maybe he had misread signals. Maybe Kyungsoo didn't like him. Maybe he liked Kyungsoo instead.

"I..." Kai shifted his weight from one leg to the other. Somehow he knew Kyungsoo wouldn't actually hurt him. "... I just wanted to talk to you about something"

"What?" Kyungsoo's voice was colder than before.

 _God he's hot._  Kyungsoo thought.

 _This is a bad idea. He doesn't care about me or anyone_. Kai's mind told him.

Despite that, Kai began, knowing the max that would happen is Kyungsoo laughing at his stupidity.

Kai narrated the events from morning to Kyungsoo who listened to everything intently. There was no hint of emotion on his face. Kai didn't know what he was thinking.

"Snitching on your friends now, are you?" Kyungsoo mocked and Kai's expression changed.

Something in Kai's eyes shifted. What looked like empathy and care before was replaced by traces of hatred and disgust.

Kyungsoo knew he shouldn't have said what he did and immediately regretted calling Kai a snitch.

Kyungsoo could feel the heat resonating from Kai's anger on his own face. The closeness was intoxicating to him. He would have let Kai go long back, but something in his mind kept telling him not to. Kyungsoo has been keeping all his feeling bottled up inside of him. He had noticed Kai long back but with each passing day, he kept thinking about him more and more. And he hated how much control the boy had over him.

That day when they had fought with Chanyeol's gang, Kyungsoo was in a mad rage to beat the shit out of everyone that crossed him. And then he faced Kai. Within seconds everything he had been thinking vanished. His face suddenly calmed Kyungsoo down and without even realising it, he let his guard down.

And then he got beaten up by Chen. It made him angry that he was such a fool to let someone affect him so much. 

 _Never again_. He had told himself. 

And yet, when he had Kai pinned up between him and the wall, all those emotions he had discarded, rose up like volcano. He hated how hurt Kai looked over what he had said. 

"Why are you telling me all this?" Kyungsoo asked.

Kai didn't answer at first. 

"Tell me" Kyungsoo pressed the knife hard against his neck.

"Because..." Kai closed his eyes. "Because I don't want you to get hurt"

Kai didn't know what overcame him to speak what he just did.

 _He'll laugh at me, or worse, cut me for caring for him_.

But nothing had prepared him for what happened instead.

Just as Kai was awaiting the dreadful, a pair of lips crashed against his.

Shocked by the sudden movement, Kai's eyes opened stark, staring into Kyungsoo's closed ones.

Before he could comprehend what had happened, instinctively his own eyes closed again, finding his lips parting ways to give Kyungsoo full access.

 

 

 

 

"Oowwwww" Kai yelped through the kiss when Kyungsoo broke away from his lips.

"I am sorry" Kyungsoo said. "Did I hurt you?"

Kai took his eyes away from Kyungsoo and looked at his own arm.

"You stabbed me" he yelled.

Kyungsoo looked at where Kai was pointing and realised his knife had slightly pierced Kai's arm.

"Fuck" Kyungsoo said. "Fuck. I am so sorry. I didn't realise I was holding you so tight"

"FUCK KYUNGSOO YOU FUCKING STABBED ME"

Out of worry, Kyungsoo grabbed Kai by the wrist of his unhurt hand and rushed him out of the staircase.

"Where are you taking me?" Kai asked.

"To the nurse" Kyungsoo answered in a frenzy running ahead and dragging Kai behind him. 

"I can walk on my own" Kai retaliated.

"Shut up idiot" Kyungsoo shot back.

"You stabbed me, I don't think I am the idiot here"

Kyungsoo stopped and turned around. 

"I am sorry" he said with remorse in his eyes and his voice. "I understand if you don't want to see me or talk to me again"

Kyungsoo hung his head low. He was apologising profusely even if it was not entirely his fault. 

Kai walked closer to him and placed his hand on Kyungsoo's chin, raising it slightly before reaching down to kiss him again. He then closed in on Kyungsoo's ears, sending chills down the latter's spine.

"I want to do more than just see and talk to you. Much, much more"

 

 


	31. Chapter 31

Baekhyun had been drowning in his sorrows for the past couple of days. Not a single day went by when he didn't barge on the doors of the bars across town till they opened it for him. He didn't care if they weren't operational. As long as he threw a wad of cash at them, they would accommodate him.

Baekhyun hated the smell and taste of alcohol. Absolutely loathed it. But at least it gave him a temporary relief. The more he drank, the more he forgot. About his childhood, about his parents, wanting to die, wanting to quit everything and everyone, his friends, his memory lapses and Chanyeol. Forgetting Chanyeol was one of the major reasons he swallowed the bitter liquid day after day, despite how much his body was telling him not to.

In less than a week, Baekhyun had lost significant amount of weight. Why wouldn't he, drinking was all he did. He had started to look like dead skin that hung loosely on a pile of bones. And he didn't care how much the alcohol was destroying him as long as it was not destroying anyone else close to him.  
  


Thursday night, despite telling himself that he didn't care, Chanyeol found himself against his own will, pacing the halls of the dormitory, glancing at the main door every now and then. Baekhyun had not come back yet. He checked his watch and realised it was 1am.

_Why the fuck isn't he back yet? Did something happen to him?_

He was about to pull his phone out and call Baekhyun before he saw a pair of headlights draw inside the school building before it came to a halt in front of the dorm gates.

It was a cab. The driver got off and walked to the backseat. It was dark so Chanyeol wasn't able to see much but soon it became clear that the driver was carrying what looked like a body that had lost all consciousness.

Even through the faint silhouette, Chanyeol could make out who it was.

_Baekhyun._

He rushed out the door. 

"Is he okay?" Chanyeol was staring at Baekhyun and something inside of his chest hurt to look at him in this condition.

"I don't know. I was just called to the bar and asked to drop him here." The cab driver swung Baekhyun's arm away from himself and handed him over to Chanyeol.

"I was only paid enough to drop him off, not carry the baggage."

 _Fucking asshole._  Chanyeol couldn't help but wonder if the driver would have left Baekhyun out in the cold, lying on the concrete floor if he had not been there. He could feel anger bile up inside of him.

He shook his head, this was not the time. Baekhyun was wearing a thin layered jacket that was barely enough in this weather and he couldn't just leave him there to square things up with the driver.

Chanyeol didn't understand how despite what Baekhyun had done and despite how much he hated him, his heart yearned to protect Baekhyun. It was a feeling that had always been inside of him, but with time, he just got used to realising them.

Carrying Baekhyun on his back, Chanyeol took him to his own room. He didn't know why. He could have easily taken Baekhyun to his room where his roommate would care for him, but instead, Chanyeol proceeded towards his own.

When he opened the door, he found Luhan studying on his desk.

 _Shit_. He was hoping Luhan would be asleep. Although he didn't know how that mattered because Luhan would find Baekhyun in the room the next morning.

"Where were y..." Luhan's voice trailed off when he saw Baekhyun on Chanyeol's back.

"What is he doing here?" Luhan asked in shock and slapped his hands on his gaped mouth.

"Did you... Did you kidnap him?"

"What?" Chanyeol asked. "No." he threw Baekhyun on the bed and he bounced lightly like a lifeless corpse.

"Oh no" Luhan cried when Chanyeol turned to look at him in surprise.

"Chanyeol... Did you kill him?" Luhan was pacing through the room with his hands rushing through his hair.

"Shit! SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT" he yelled. "Chanyeol I know you hate him but did you have to kill him?"

"I..." before Chanyeol could speak, Luhan put his hand out to stop him and continued pacing.

"This is bad. What do you think we should do? Shit am I an accomplice now? Shit! What do we do?"

"Luha..."

"I know... we can bury the body" Luhan continued. "No wait that is too easy. We need to chop his body and bury it across the field"

"What?" Chanyeol asked in surprised. "Luhan he is not..."

"An animal? Yes you're right. We can't chop him. Wait! There's a tub in the washroom. I'll go buy acid and we can dissolve him. There won't be any traces left"

"What the fuck Luhan that's twisted!!!"

Luhan turned to look at him and he was on the verge of crying. "I don't want to go to jail Chanyeol. I am not cut out for that. It won't suit me. So we need to get rid of everything. EVERYTHING"

Chanyeol couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was this the same person who had cried for days after he saw the kitchen staff kill a chicken for lunch? He had turned into a vegetarian for 2 months before he couldn't take it anymore and went back to eating chicken.

"Luhan you stupid fuck Baekhyun isn't dead he is just dead drunk"

Luhan blinked and tucked his lips under his teeth. "What?" he said after a moment.

"I said he isn't dead. But wait, did you actually think I was capable of killing someone?"

Luhan didn't answer. 

This was unbelievable. "And what was that shit about getting rid of the body? Have you been watching too many murder mysteries?"

"No I don't watch anything other than sports" Luhan confessed and realised immediately he shouldn't have. How was he going to justify this shit now?

Before Chanyeol could ask anything else about the elaborate plan Luhan had made, the latter quickly turned around. 

"I am sleepy. I'm going to Sehun's room to sleep"

Chanyeol gave up. He knew nothing fruitful would come out of this conversation and if anything, he might end up being scared of Luhan. So he let him leave. It had become usual for him to sleep at Sehun's place but he was also thankful because if Baekhyun woke up or if Dark Baekhyun came out, he didn't want Luhan to see the parts of Baekhyun that were only exclusive to him.

_What the fuck am I thinking? There are no parts of Baekhyun that are exclusive to me. Neither do I want them to be. I hate him._

It was funny how he had to remind himself of his hatred towards the smaller while his heart beat like it would fail every time he saw Baekhyun.

He turned towards Baekhyun who was asleep.

"You look like shit Baekhyun" he said softly, looking at his face. His cheeks had sunk in, the circles under his eyes were hollow. He looked frail and Chanyeol's heart ached looking at him.

"I should be happy to see you like this..." Chanyeol sunk to the floor and laid his head against Baekhyun's hand. "... but why is it killing me?"

Baekhyun let out a soft moan. The frail voice that escaped his lips with warm breath made Chanyeol's head spin. Even in this state the boy sleeping in front of him was enchanting.

Running his hands through Baekhyun's hair, Chanyeol then lightly grazed them against the soft cheeks. 

"You better not die on me Baekhyun. Or I will kill you"

With that, Chanyeol eyes became heavier with every blink. Now that he knew where Baekhyun was, he felt lighter. He felt he could rest. Before he realised, he drifted off to sleep.  
  


When Baekhyun opened his eyes, the first thing he registered was warmth. It was warmer than the past few days when he had passed out on his bed and not even bothered to cloak himself with a warmer. This was new, this was different.

The next thing his body registered was his hand around someone's waist and someone's body pressed up against his chest.

He had not opened his eyes yet and was too afraid to do so. He was afraid he had spent the night with a stranger. He was scared to find out who it was. He was terrified that he had made a terrible mistake when he was drunk.

But his senses awakened before he opened his eyes. The smell... it was familiar. Very familiar. He knew this scent like he knew the feeling of rain on his skin, like the taste of coffee, he knew this scent like he knew his own name.

It was Park Chanyeol's scent. Eyes still closed and like his body was craving for it, he pressed his nose against Chanyeol's back, pulling him tighter towards himself.

This felt good, this felt safe. This felt...

 _What the fuck?_ Baekhyun opened his eyes to find himself staring into the Chanyeol's broad shoulders.

 _What the fuck is he doing here?_  Baekhyun looked around and it took him a few seconds to realise he was not in his own room.

_What the fuck am I doing here?_

He saw his hands were still holding Chanyeol by his waist.

_Fuck._

He withdrew his hands and was about to get up when a large pair of hands grabbed his by the arm and pulled him back. Turning in his sleep towards Baekhyun, Chanyeol pulled him closer.

Baekhyun's heart missed multiple beats.

Chanyeol held Baekhyun in his grip as the latter's head rested on Chanyeol's chest.

Baekhyun could hear every rhythmic beating of Chanyeol's heart. It was like music to him. He could listen to this forever and never get bored.

Baekhyun tried to escape Chanyeol's grip when Chanyeol pulled him even tighter. Baekhyun realised Chanyeol was awake. 

"Let me go" Baekhyun protested. 

Chanyeol opened his eyes slowly and looked at Baekhyun who was staring at him with rage in his eyes.

"I am not letting you go anywhere"

 


	32. Chapter 32

Baekhyun wasn't sure what was happening. A week ago this same man was at his throat, wanting to kill him and now he was holding him in his big, big arms that would hug the world if they could.

Baekhyun wanted to ask what was wrong with him but he soon found Chanyeol drifting back to sleep and snoring slightly.

_FUCK! How does he look so adorable while sleeping?_

_No. No Baekhyun, don't be a fool. Don't go down this road again. There is nothing for you here. Chanyeol isn't for you. The more you attach yourself to him, the more he'll get hurt!_

When Baekhyun found Chanyeol's grip loosen, he quietly moved himself away from him and rushed out before Chanyeol would wake up.

But before he left, he walked over to Chanyeol's study desk and pulled out a paper and a pen.

 

Baekhyun managed to escape Chanyeol's room and quickly ran to his own room, hoping to not encounter Yixing, but to his dismay, his roommate was sitting on his bed when Baekhyun entered.

As soon as he saw Baekhyun, Yixing leapt from his bed.

"Where the fuck have you been?" he said holding Baekhyun by his arms.

"I ... I ..." Baekhyun began but wasn't sure of how to form the words that made sense.

_I was with Chanyeol. I slept on his bed, with him, next to me._

"I am sorry" Baekhyun said instead.

"Do you know how worried we've been?" Yixing yelled before he pulled his phone out. 

"Xiumin" he spoke into the phone. "Yes he just came back"

...

"Yes"

...

"Okay"

He hung up and looked at Baekhyun again. "Xiumin says not to let you leave till they arrive"

Baekhyun nodded.

"What the fuck were you thinking Baekhyun? Scaring us like that?"

Baekhyun didn't know words that would justify his behavior. 

"We've been looking out for you all night long. Tao and Suho visited every fucking bar in the area to try and find you"

Baekhyun eyes widened as he absorbed Yixing's words.

"What?"

"DO YOU WANT TO BE FUCKING KILLED BY ME?" someone yelled.

Baekhyun turned around to find Kyungsoo on the door staring at Baekhyun with a murderous rage.

"Soo..." Baekhyun began but before he could, Kyungsoo charged towards him. Without warning, Kyungsoo threw a mean punch on Baekhyun's face, making the latter stumble before he was caught by Yixing.

"YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD REASON FOR WHY YOU'VE BEEN ACTING LIKE A BITCH THESE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS BAEKHYUN OR SO HELP ME GOD I WILL END YOU"

Baekhyun stared at him in horror. Did he just get punched by Kyungsoo? Not that he didn't deserve it, but did he actually get punched by him?

"Soo I am sorry. I really am. Believe me please." Baekhyun said. 

Hearing Baekhyun's apology with no excuses, Kyungsoo immediately calmed down.

Baekhyun couldn't help but smile at the sudden change of Kyungsoo's expressions.

"You enjoyed doing that, didn't you?" Baekhyun touched his face where Kyungsoo's punch had landed. Baekhyun sudden smiled at Kyungsoo who was still looking at him with a straight face. After a while he smiled too, revealing his heart shaped grin. 

Perplexed, Yixing tapped Baekhyun on his shoulders. 

"I think there is something wrong with Kyungsoo. He is smiling"

 

In a few minutes, Baekhyun's room was full with his friends, just like almost a week ago, when Baekhyun had decided to leave them. 

No one asked much questions, no one demanded answers. But Baekhyun could see how relieved they were to see him safe. 

Even if no one said anything, Baekhyun believe he owed them answers. So with a deep breath, he explained to them his behavior and his apprehensions. He told them of his past; or what he could remember of his past; he told them of his fears, for himself and for those around him and he told them how he thought he deserved to be alone.

When he was done, it was Kyungsoo who spoke first.

"You do not abandon your friends Baekhyun. You never do that because we won't do that to you. Even if it means punching sense into you repeatedly"

There was a silence after Kyungsoo's words.

"So Soo punched you huh?" Tao asked after a while, laughing suddenly.

Soon the room became alive with murmurs of how Baekhyun had been punched by Kyungsoo and everyone started laughing.

Amidst all the laughs and friendly chatter, Baekhyun's phone rang.

It was Taehyuk. 

"Hello" he spoke into it, getting up and moving out of the room to be able to hear him better.

 _"Hi Baek."_  Taehyuk's voice was sweet and soft, like always.

"Hi" Baekhyun replied.

_"How were your holidays?"_

"Fine, yours?" Baekhyun didn't want to give out details he shouldn't.

_"I missed you"_

Baekhyun didn't respond. He was clear when he said he wanted to break up. He knew Taehyuk deserved better.

When Taehyuk found Baekhyun not replying, he gave out a nervous laugh.

_"When should I pick you up?"_

Baekhyun was blank. The past week had been so hazy that he had lost all sense of time or what day it was.

Suddenly he remembered. He was supposed to go on a final date with Taehyuk.

_FUCK._

_"We're still on for dinner right?"_  Taehyuk asked, sounding a little low.

The promise he made to Taehyuk seemed like it was done years ago. Baekhyun shook his head. A promise was a promise. He had already broken his heart, the least he could do was live up to his words.

"How about 7?" Baekhyun asked.

_"Sounds perfect. I'll pick you up then"_

"Where are we going?"

 _"It's a surprise"._  With that, he hung up, leaving Baekhyun to contemplate if he was doing the right thing. 

 

 

 

 

When Chanyeol woke up, he found himself on his bed, alone. For once he thought he had dreamt of the entire scenario where Baekhyun was sleeping next to him and how he pulled him near, telling the smaller that he won't let him go. But then he remembered how real his touch felt against his skin and how he had rested his head on Chanyeol's chest, as if listening to his heart intently.

It was not a dream. But then, where was Baekhyun?

He was nowhere to be seen. Chanyeol's heart sank a little. He was hoping to wake up next to Baekhyun for some reason. He looked around before his eye settled on the paper kept near his pillow.

He picked it up and rubbing his eyes, he read the words once. Then he read them again. And again and he kept reading them until they were infused in his mind, just like the hate that had begun to resurface.

Written in Baekhyun's handwriting on the paper, were the words  ** _'Did you forget what I did to you last time? Stay the fuck away from me filthy coward'_**

 

 

 

 

When Baekhyun had held the pen in his hand, thinking of what to write that would make Chanyeol stay away from him, he couldn't think of anything.

Then he remembered his anger last week in the cafeteria. Baekhyun still did not know what he had done to make Chanyeol so mad, but if reminding him of it would do the job, Baekhyun was ready for it.

With uncertainty that it would work, Baekhyun jotted down the words  ** _'Did you forget what I did to you last time?'_**

But that would not be enough. He then went on to write more.

Baekhyun's hand trembled as he wrote the word  ** _'coward'_**  on the paper. He didn't want to, but there was no other choice. His eyes welled with tears as he absorbed what the words would to to Chanyeol. It would hurt him and make him angry, but being with Baekhyun would hurt him more. 

"I am sorry" he whispered softly to Chanyeol who was still sleeping like a baby. Placing the note next to his pillow, Baekhyun walked out.

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun was still standing outside his room with his disconnected phone in his hand when he saw someone running towards him from the end of the hallway.

Within a fraction of second his mind registered who it was.

"Chanyeol..." Baekhyun said, turning to face the approaching giant.

Before Baekhyun could say anything, Chanyeol let all his energy flow into the fist that his hand had formed before it crashed on Baekhyun's face. The punch was so heavy that Baekhyun was thrown into the wall behind him. 

Chanyeol walked to him and held Baekhyun by his collar.

"Who's the coward now?" he asked as he trashed Baekhyun's face repeatedly until his face was covered with only blood.

"Who's the coward, bitch?"

Baekhyun's friends ran into the hallway as soon as they heard the noise.

Suho and Xiumin rushed over to Chanyeol, to hold him back while Yixing and Kyungsoo ran over to Baekhyun who was coughing blood.

Tao was fuming and was about to hit Chanyeol when Baekhyun's voice rang through the air.

"Don't." Baekhyun said and Tao turned around. "Don't hurt... him" he squirmed through pain and a broken nose.

"It ... It was my fault"

"Take him to the nurse" Suho said, still holding to Chanyeol who tried to escape from his grip.

"NOW!" Suho yelled and everyone except him rushed to take Baekhyun there.

When Baekhyun was out of sight, Suho let Chanyeol go. 

"I'll deal with you later" he said to Chanyeol and left to follow his friends. 

 


	33. Chapter 33

After Baekhyun was taken to the Nurse's room, to everyone's relief, nothing was deeper than surface wounds except Baekhyun's nose that was slightly broken.

After he was cleaned up, the nurse put a nose cast on the bridge of his nose.

He was given some pain medications that made him sleep a couple of hours.

When he woke up, he felt like a truck had hit him. And then he remembered. Chanyeol's punches were no less than that.

He tried to get up when he saw all his friends were still there, waiting on him.

"You can stay here overnight if you want" the nurse told him but he was not willing to.

"No I can rest in my room" he said politely and walked to his room with the help of his friends despite them telling him that it was not a good idea.  
  


Once they were all inside the room, it was Tao who first spoke.

"Baekhyun" Tao looked nervous touching the topic. "What is happening with you two?"

Suddenly everyone's eyes were on Baekhyun. He knew they were talking about Baekhyun and Chanyeol. He didn't want to hide things from them anymore. But he didn't know how to tell them the full story without telling them of his memory loss.

"Before I tell you the all of it, I need you all to not freak out over what I am about to say"

Everyone nodded and a mutual agreement was formed.

"I ..." Baekhyun began, trying to form words that would make sense to his friends.

"I have episodes of memory loss" he blurted out.

"Memory loss?" Xiumin asked. "Like blank?

Baekhyun nodded. "There are times, and even days which I have no memory of"

None of them said anything but were willing to hear more.

"You remember the first week of school?" Baekhyun asked and everyone nodded.

"I don't remember it. I don't remember any of the first seven days I spent here"

They all were looking at Baekhyun, trying to make sense of what he was saying.

"You..." It was Suho's voice. "You don't remember how we all became friends?"

Suddenly Baekhyun felt guilty. But he knew he was done with all the lies. Silently he shook his head.

"All I remember is waking up in this bed one night, when I heard someone sing and I remember seeing Yixing. That's my first memory of him"

"Is that even possible?" Tao asked but Baekhyun had no answer.

All this while, Kyungsoo remained silent, observing Baekhyun closely.

"We'll deal with this later, tell us the rest of it first" Suho said.

Baekhyun nodded. "I have suicidal tendencies, and usually my memory losses begin right when I am about to harm myself. Somehow Chanyeol found out about it. That day in the hall, it wasn't him trying to harm he, he was somehow trying to save me. I still don't understand how it works"

Baekhyun continued, "When I come back from my memory relapse, I usually find myself wearing weird leather clothes which I have no memory of whatsoever"

Tao shuddered and hid himself behind Kyungsoo's arm.

"I am scared" he cried, "Are you possessed by any chance?"

"Shut up Tao" Kyungsoo said and then looked at Baekhyun.

"Continue"

"One day I found myself suddenly standing outside the music room, having no memory of how I got there. All I remembered was the song I was hearing"

"There is a ghost in the building I am telling you" Tao whimpered again.

"I told you shut up, didn't I?" Kyungsoo looked at him and everyone noticed the urgency in his voice. He was obviously noticing something others were missing.

He then turned around and nodded at Baekhyun, asking him to continue speaking.

For the next few minutes, Baekhyun told them about all his encounters with Chanyeol, then he told them how it was him who Baekhyun had heard singing all those nights and how his voice somehow calmed him down.

"The day I found out it was his voice I'd been hearing all along, Chanyeol and I kissed"

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Yixing suddenly yelled.

"Are you kidding me?" Xiumin asked the same time.

"No way in hell that's possible" Suho yelled.

"I get it" Kyungoo said silently and everyone turned their heads towards him.

What had just happened?

"I mean their chemistry was all over the place. Did none of you see it?" Kyungsoo tried to justify but all of them shook their heads.

"What the fuck are you talking about Soo?" Baekhyun asked in shock. "Even I didn't see any chemistry between us"

"That's coz you're stupid and blind" Kyungsoo said softly.

Baekhyun sighed. There was no point trying to prove Kyungsoo wrong when he was hell bent on a theory, no matter how fake it was.

"What happened then?" Tao asked who was more interested in the story line.

"Then I broke up with Taehyuk"

Another round of disbelief and loud chatter ensued.

"I can't believe you never told us any of this. I feel hurt" Yixing said sadly.

"I am sorry, I just didn't want to burden anyone with my problems" Baekhyun bowed his head in shame.

"We're friends Baekhyun" Tao said. "Friends don't burden each other"

Baekhyun felt a surge of gratitude towards each of them. He couldn't believe how wrong he had been in not wanting to open up to them earlier.

"So after I and Taehyuk broke up, I did't tell Chanyeol about it because I was wrapped up in my own nightmares. How can I be with either when I don't even know what I am capable of from when I don't remember anything" he continued.

"The next day went smoothly, we made plans to go to Kris's vacation house but on the morning the holiday started, he punched me out of nowhere. You all got hurt and I couldn't help but believe I must have done something from when I didn't remember anything. That's I why I silently backed off from everyone."

"What happened today then?" Suho asked.

"When I woke up, I was in Chanyeol's bed"

This was too much for any of them to process. They all started throwing words in utter disbelief before settling down once again.

"My fears crept back in and so I left a note threatening him again and I called him..." Baekhyun's voice trailed off.

"I called him a coward." All of them saw the hurt that surfaced on his face when he said the last word.

"You threatened him even if you didn't know what he was threatened by?" Yixing asked.

"There was no other choice to keep him away from me, from all the hurt I bring to people around me. He is a genuinely nice guy with the kindest heart I have ever seen"

"Are you seriously saying that after what he did to your face?" Tao asked.

"I told you it was not his fault"

"Is that why you stopped me from hitting him?"

Baekhyun nodded at Tao's question.

"I don't remember what I did, but I must have done something terrible to deserve this"

"Stop" Kyungsoo suddenly said. "Just stop, okay?" He was looking straight at Baekhyun.

"Stop thinking that you deserve this or suffering all alone or being lonely or dying. Just stop thinking that Baekhyun. Do you think we would have helped you or been with you if you deserved the shit you keep justifying?"

Baekhyun was stunned at Kyungsoo's words. He had never actually thought if he deserved any of it. He just accepted it all with his eyes closed.

"You know why Chanyeol hit you in the cafeteria?" Kyungsoo asked.

Baekhyun shook his head.

"He thinks you leaked the story of his girlfriend's suicide"

Baekhyun eyes shot wide open.

"How... how do you know?" Baekhyun asked.

"The entire school knows and he thinks you spread it"

"But I didn't..." Baekhyun said.

"We know Baekhyun" Kyungsoo said. "Why do you think we never asked you about it? Because we trusted you blindly that you wouldn't do it. That's how much credit we give you and that's how little credit you give yourself"

"I don't care about your memory loss or the fact you think we will get hurt because of you. None of us do. I know what you are. And to me, that's all that matters"

Baekhyun's heart was suddenly full by what he was hearing that it would burst. Why had he pushed these people away?

"You don't remember how each of us became friends, right?" It was Suho who spoke.

"On the first day of school, you went against the biggest bully around here, Park Chanyeol. Kyungsoo liked you since then because he saw that you knew how to stand up against what was wrong"

Baekhyun looked at Kyungsoo who smiled at him.

"You and I met on the 3rd day of school I believe" Suho continued. "I was outside the school campus getting beaten up by 4 dudes who wanted me to return the money I owed them from gambling. You were out on a stroll and you could have easily ignored me and walked away. But you didn't. You rushed to my side and kicked their asses one after the other before throwing money on them and asking them to never come back"

Everything he was hearing was unbelievable.

"Xiumin was being bullied by some seniors from other school when you stepped in to save him" Kyungsoo continued.

It was Tao's turn. "You literally climbed on top of a tree to save a cat that I was scared would die. I was standing there, crying my eyes out coz I fed that kitty everyday as she roamed around the campus and when you saw me, you asked what happened. When I told you, you didn't laugh at me or called me sissy. You just went up and got the cat for me"

Was he really this person they were all talking about?

Baekhyun then turned to Yixing who looked clueless.

"Oh" he began, "We don't have an emotional story like that. We're friends because we're roommates. That's it"

The atmosphere that had become emotional, suddenly lightened up with Yixing's words and they laughed till Baekhyun's nose hurt and it was time for him to rest again.

"Wake me up at six" Baekhyun said to Yixing as the others helped him to his bed. "I have to go meet Taehyuk"

"Not in this condition you don't" Tao retaliated.

"Please" Baekhyun said. "I made a promise to him and I can't just break it"

"You're not even fit enough to move" Xiumin said.

"I just want to get it over with as soon as possible. So please just wake me up, okay?"

Yixing nodded and none of them said anything else. They somehow understood what Baekhyun meant.

With that, Baekhyun drifted off to a deep slumber.

 


	34. Chapter 34

After Kyungsoo left Baekhyun's room, his mind ran with things he had heard Baekhyun say. He had a theory building up, just wasn't sure if he was going in the right direction. All he knew was that he needed to talk to Chanyeol first. But it turned out to be more difficult than he imagined.

 

Kyungsoo called Kai to ask where Chanyeol was. But no one had seen him since the morning. Knowing that waiting for him would bring no change to the situation, Kyungsoo headed towards library to find answers where he could. In the Psychology Section.

After Chanyeol had seen Baekhyun taken to the nurse, Chanyeol quietly turned around and walked away. He then kept walking until he was out of the school campus. He walked and walked until he could walk no more. And then he walked even further. He just kept going in the cold like it was his last day.

Before he realised, he was far, far from school. He must have walked for hours because he didn't recognise where he was anymore. Suddenly Chanyeol stopped.

_Why did he do that? Why did he have to stop Tao?_

If only Baekhyun would have let Tao hit him, Chanyeol wouldn't feel as miserable as he did.

_"Don't hurt him"... "It was my fault"_

These words kept bothering Chanyeol since he first heard them.

 _Baekhyun_. Suddenly his bloody face sprung in his mind.

_Fuck! What have I done?_

Chanyeol turned around, trying to understand where he was but he was clueless. He searched his pockets but realised that he was carrying neither his phone nor any money.

Checking his watch, Chanyeol realised that it was 5 in the afternoon and god only knew how long it would take him to go back.

He knew he had to go back, if not for anything else then to see if Baekhyun was alright. Chanyeol hated his temper. He would do things in fits of anger that were never right and it would kill him from the inside.

Chanyeol realised that he was on the outskirts of the the city. So far out that not a single vehicle could be found. So he decided to walk in the direction of where he came from so that he could at least walk back to school if the cold didn't kill him first.

Chanyeol walked for an hour before he saw habitable situations. He immediately looked for a cab and to his luck, he found one. He could always pay the driver when he got back to school so without any delay, he got in. When he gave the driver the school address, Chanyeol realised he had walked over 30 kms away from the campus and that it would take almost an hour to reach, considering the traffic.

Baekhyun was staring at himself in the mirror. There were bruises on his jaws, a cut on his left cheek and more bruises on his right. His lower lip was spit open from the left and the bridge of his nose was carefully set under a small cast.

_Is this what I look like?_

Baekhyun was starting to think that maybe cancelling the plan would be a better thing to do. Somehow everything was going wrong. But he remembered the look on Taehyuk's face when he had begged Baekhyun for this final meeting and how excited he had sounded when Baekhyun had asked him to pick him up.

_He deserves at least this._

It didn't matter to Baekhyun how badly hurt he was or how his body felt like it would fail any moment. A promise was a promise and he would do anything to keep it.

 

 

When Baekhyun got in the car that Taehyuk had pulled out on the front of the dorm building, he thanked god that it was dark and Taehyuk didn't seem to have noticed his face. But that didn't last for long.

A minute after Baekhyun got in, Taehyuk turned on the interior lights and stared at Baekhyun in silence.

Slowly, Baekhyun turned towards him.

"Can we please just go?" he asked softly.

"Tell me what happened!" Taehyuk's voice was calmer than what Baekhyun had expected. It made him relax a little.

"It's nothing really" Baekhyun replied, "Just a small fight at school"

"This is not the result of a small fight Baekhyun" Taekhyuk placed his hand on Baekhyun chin and turned his face around to look at him properly. He inched closer, to look at each bruise.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

"Like a bitch" Baekhyun replied with a smile trying to make Taehyuk loosen up a little. Even then he didn't let go of Baekhyun's face.

"Was it Chanyeol?" he then asked softly.

Baekhyun didn't know where the question came from but the calling out of his name suddenly changed Baekhyun's expressions. The pain he was feeling on the surface was nothing compared to what he felt on the inside.

Pulling himself away from Taehyuk's touch, Baekhyun turned to look ahead. "Let's go" he said.

If he had been looking at Taehyuk, he would notice the smirk that had played on Taehyuk's lips for a split second before vanishing completely. 

 

 

The moment Taehyuk's car left the campus, Chanyeol's cab pulled in. He leapt from the car, telling the driver to wait for cash.

Chanyeol first rushed over to his room to find Luhan and Kris doing their homework. He took his wallet and phone from the table and threw the wallet towards Luhan.

"There's a cab waiting downstairs, go pay him"

"Wha..." Luhan proceeded to ask but Chanyeol was already gone from the room.

He ran through the hallway to go to the nurse's room when he found Kai.

"Where have you been?" Kai asked.

"I will explain later" Chanyeol said. He was beginning to run again when Kai caught him by his arms. "Where do you think you're going? You have therapy in 5 minutes"

_Fuck!_

Chanyeol had completely forgotten about it.

"I'll go later, I promise. I need to go see someone first" he said.

"Do yo mean Baekhyun?" came out a voice and both of them turned to see Kyungsoo standing there with a book in his hands.

"Ah right" Kai said suddenly. "Soo has been looking for you!"

Chanyeol looked from Kyungsoo to Kai.

"Soo?" he asked, acknowledging the nickname. "Since when is he Soo?"

Kai didn't reply. Instead he looked at Kyungsoo. "Why were you looking for him?"

"Can we do this later?" Chanyeol asked. "I really need to see if Baekhyun's doing all right"

"What happened to Baekhyun?" Kai asked.

"I'll explain later" Kyungsoo said softly and Kai was immediately tamed.

What was happening? Chanyeol had never seen Kai being so obedient in his entire life. If Chanyeol had said the same thing, Kai would irritate and hound him for hours till he found out what he wanted to know. But with Kyungsoo, it was like he was a completely different person. More stable, more mature.

Shaking his head, Chanyeol discarded the thought to the more pressing matter at hand.

"Is he still at the nurse's office?" Chanyeol asked Kyungsoo who shook his head.

"He's not here"

"What do you mean?"

"He went out with Taehyuk on a date"

Chanyeol didn't move for a while. He just stared at Kyungsoo like someone had given him a death sentence. Kyungsoo noticed how his words reflected on Chaneyol's face. The pain was evident. Before he could say something else, Kai interrupted them.

"Can you please tell me why you were looking for Chanyeol?" Kai asked irritatingly.

Kyungsoo looked at him and smiled a little.

"In a bit" Kyungsoo replied and Kai rolled his eyes. Somehow he found this side of Kai very adorable, but Chanyeol was too absorbed in his world to notice that this was the first time he was seeing a smiling Kyungsoo.

"Chanyeol, are you okay?" Kyungsoo asked.

"Huh?" Chanyeol raised his eyebrows. "Yea... Yea I'm fine"

Kyungsoo nodded. "I need to talk to you about Baekhyun, but first I need to confirm my theories. Can you do me a favour?"

The giant nodded without thinking.

"When you are at therapy, can you discuss Baekhyun's condition anonymously with the doc? Make it hypothetical and let me know what he says. If I am right, our diagnosis should match"

"I'll try" Chanyeol said.

"Go now" Kai pushed him towards the hallway that would lead him to the therapy room.

Chanyeol turned around to say bye but saw Kyungsoo sliding his hand into Kai's as they walked into the latter's room.

_What the fuck is happening around here?_

_Fuck it!_

With that, he ran towards therapy room.

 

 

It had been months since Chanyeol had last been the the therapist's office. Having completely given up on help, he had resorted to accepting that he would always be this person with a fractured brain and fear that was always at bay.

Even though he didn't want to be in the room, even though he wanted to be anywhere else but here, even though he knew he didn't care about failing class and repeating a year, he still stepped forward, because of what Kyungsoo wanted him to find out.

"Chanyeol" the doctor said, "What a pleasant surprise"

Chanyeol smiled and took his usual position in the couch opposite to where the doctor was sitting.

"Tell me how you feel"

Chanyeol began narrating lies after lies, spinning them to his liking, making sure to give out just enough details to keep the doctor on the hook and not be suspicious of him lying. It went on for almost forty five minutes.

When the time to leave approached, Chanyeol got up and started walking towards the door. But before he went out, he turned to the doctor once.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, go ahead" the doctor said.

"I was reading through a few things and I came across an article that talked about abrupt personality changes"

"Okay"

"I was curious and wanted to know more about it"

"Sure, what do you want to know?"

Chanyeol walked back inside and sat down on the empty couch. He knew he was the last counsel so there was no one waiting to come in. Which meant he had time.

Chanyeol told the doctor about Baekhyun's case, never using his name once and narrating it like it was a story he had read in a book. He told the doctor every symptom he had experienced or seen and all that he knew to be true. He also told the doctor of the memory loss and suddenly, he felt light. Like by acknowledging this, he was already half way into solving this puzzle. 

 

 

After twenty minutes or so, Chanyeol walked out of the office like a zombie walking through a deserted road.

_What did I just hear? Could it be true?_

The only way to find out was by finding Kyungsoo.

He pulled his phone out and called Kai. Kai told him that Kyungsoo was probably in his room. Without any delay, Chanyeol rushed over.

When he reached the room, he found Kyungsoo along with the rest of Baekhyun's friends.

All eyes turned to look at him.

"What the fuck are you doing here asshole?" Tao yelled.

Chanyeol pretended to not have heard that. He instead turned to Kyungsoo.

"We need to talk" he said. "Alone" he emphasized.

"It's okay, you can talk here"

Chanyeol didn't know if he should enter the room. He felt like a deer walking into into a lair of hungry hyenas. Still, taking a deep breath, Chanyeol stepped in.

"Did you talk to the therapist?" Kyungsoo asked Chanyeol nodded.

Kyungsoo could see that the information he was carrying, was worrying him.

 

 

Kai was in his room with Chen when the latter found Kyungsoo's notes that he had left behind from earlier.

"Is this Kyungsoo's?" Chen asked, sifting through the paper.

Kai walked over from his bed to see and nodded. "Yes he is doing some research on Baekhyun I believe"

Chen flipped the pages one after the other till something caught his eyes. It didn't take him long to put the pieces together.

"Where is he?" Chen asked suddenly.

"In his room" Kai replied. _Why is everyone suddenly interested in where Kyungsoo is?_

"We need to find him, let's go." Chen rushed out of the room closely followed by Kai.

 

 

 

"What did the doc say?" Kyungsoo asked.

"What is this about?" Suho asked.

Kyungsoo turned from Chanyeol to him. "About Baekhyun's memory loss. I have a theory and I just need to confirm it"

He turned back to look at the giant. "What did you find out?"

A million things were running through Chanyeol's head. Everything from 'is this even possible' to 'it must be a dream'. He was confused and scared and didn't even know what to do anymore.

 _Calm the fuck down_.

He looked at Kyungsoo and then at Suho and then at the rest of them one by one. He wondered if they would abandon Baekhyun if they knew what Chanyeol had found out. He wondered if he would abandon Baekhyun. The answer was almost immediate. He knew in his heart that something even as big as this would not make him quit on Baekhyun.

A part of him was telling him to lie. To tell them that there was nothing he found out. That the therapist said it was a usual thing. But a bigger part of him was telling him to trust these people that Baekhyun trusted.

Chanyeol took a deep breath.

"Baekhyun... I think he has..." he began, swallowing a lump in his throat. Somehow the words were not ready to form on his mouth.

"According to what the therapist said, I think Baekhyun has..."

"Dissociative Identity Disorder" a loud voice screamed through the open door of Kyungsoo's room.

They all turned their heads to find Chen standing at the door with Kai behind him.

"Baekhyun has DID" he said again through his heavy breaths and pants and Kyungsoo and Chanyeol looked at each other.

They were about to say the same thing.

 


	35. Chapter 35

Taehyuk pulled the car outside a lavish hotel.

"Why are we here?" Baekhyun asked, a little surprised.

Taehyuk turned towards him and smiled. "The food here is amazing. Also..."

"Also?" Baekhyun asked.

"Also I didn't think you wanted to be out in the public looking like that. So I booked a room so that we could peacefully dine in and watch movies perhaps"

Baekhyun did not like the sound of this.

"What made you think I am embarrassed by how I look?" he asked. "I don't care"

"Okay" Taehyuk said, "Sorry I assumed that. It's just that this is my dad's hotel and I don't want people speaking"

Baekhyun couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Let's just go"

This sudden side of Taehyuk made Baekhyun question everything he knew or thought he knew about him.   
  


 

 

When they entered the room, Baekhyun found it was duly decorated in red balloons and rose petals.

_Isn't this supposed to be a final date?_

A large table sat in the middle of the room with a lavish feast on top of it.

Baekhyun turned to look at Taehyuk in surprise. "Why did you have to do this?"

Taehyuk smiled. "Anything for you"

Suddenly Baekhyun started feeling guilty. Did he make a mistake by agreeing to this date? Did Taehyuk confuse the last date with the continuation of the relationship?

Before he could open his mouth to speak, Taehyuk led him in by his arm and made him sit on the chair and himself took the one on Baekhyun's opposite.

Feeling nervous, Baekhyun checked his watch. It was only 7.45 pm. If Taehyuk planned on watching movies after this, Baekhyun wouldn't be able to go back before 11. He was not liking this as something in his mind kept telling him that Taehyuk had gotten the wrong idea about all this.

Quietly, Baekhyun began eating. He tried to indulge in as little conversation as possible, hoping Taehyuk would get a hint of what Baekhyun wanted.

He ate as fast as he could, hoping to get this over with.

When Taehyuk was done too, Baekhyun checked his watch again. 8.05pm.

_Fuck. Why is time running so slow?_

"What do you want to watch?" Taehyuk asked, getting up from the table and lending his hand out for Baekhyun to take.

When Baekhyun didn't, he withdrew with a smile. "I have romance, comedy, action... what do you want to see?"

Baekhyun shrugged "Any action movie is fine."

Taehyuk randomly chose a movie and let it play.

They were now seated on the couch which faced the large television.

A few minutes into the movie, Baekhyun had zoned out. His only intention was to go back without hurting Taehyuk's feelings while also making him understand that the relationship had ended. Baekhyun could tell from the corner of his eyes that Taehyuk wanted to hold his hand.

The moment Taehyuk proceeded, Baekhyun pulled his hand up, pretending to check the time. It was now 8.33.

Baekhyun had no interest in the movie so he nervously fidgeted with his watch, fingers and hair which Taehyuk noticed.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Baekhyun turned to face him. "Taehyuk I think you have the wro..."

Before Baekhyun could finish speaking, Taehyuk pulled him in for a kiss.

For a second, Baekhyun did not understand what had just happened but the next moment, he put his hands on Taehyuk's chest and tried to push him away.

It didn't work. Baekhyun was already weak, considering his condition and to top that, Taehyuk was much larger in built. He didn't let Baekhyun go.

Struggling to get Taehyuk off of him, Baekhyun used all the energy he had in him to retaliate. When he managed to get his lips free, he realised his lip wound had busted open again.

Traces of blood could be seen on Taehyuk's lips which he tried to wipe off.

"What the fuck was that Taehyuk?" Baekhyun asked, standing up, ready to storm out of the room.

"Please" Taehyuk suddenly started to plead. "I am sorry. I don't know what came over me. Please just sit down. I'll fix your lip and then I'll drop you off"

"I can go myself" Baekhyun said. "Stay the fuck away from me. I made it clear that we're through, did I not?"

"I am sorry Baekhyun" Taehyuk was now on his knees. "I think I had the wrong idea. Please I am begging you, don't leave like that. I want us to part on a happy note"

Baekhyun's heart melted at the plea. He could see Taehyuk was sincere in his words. "Fine" he said. "Do not do that again"

"I won't" Taehyuk said. "I promise"

"Let me get you something to drink first." He got up and walked over to the drinks counter.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Cola" Baekhyun replied.

While Taehyuk was fetching him the drink, Baekhyun took his phone out. He wondered if he should call one of his friends to pick him up. He was scrolling through the numbers when Taehyuk presented him with the glass of cola.

"Here" he said, "drink this while I get first aid."

Baekhyun took the glass and started sipping the drink, while still scrolling through his contact. Suddenly the name 'Park Chanyeol' appeared and Baekhyun hovered his finger over it. For a few seconds, he kept looking at the name while finishing his drink.

The moment he was done, the glass slipped from his hand. It took more than a second for Baekhyun to register what had happened. Then he lost control of his other hand that was holding the phone. Involuntarily his thumb pressed a couple of buttons before the phone too landed on the floor. Baekhyun tried to reach, but he realised that his hands weren't moving to his well. He then tried to get up and then the horror struck him.

He was drugged.

He saw Taehyuk approaching him.

"He..lp" Baekhyun said, in a hazy voice. "I can't... move"

He saw Taehyuk reaching out a hand, to perhaps help him up. But he was wrong. What happened next made Baekhyun's senses also numb.

With one heavy blow, a hand struck Baekhyun across the face, throwing him on the floor. Taehyuk had just slapped him for reasons Baekhyun did not understand.

"Why..." Baekhyun spoke through the fear that was creeping up on him. "Why... are you doing this?"

"Why am I doing this?" Taehyuk laughed. "Do you really not know why?"

Baekhyun had no clue on what was happening or why it was happening. Things were fine until a few minutes ago. Was he doing this because Baekhyun rejected the kiss?

"Things were going fine between us Baekhyun. I had been so patient with you"

It was true to Baekhyun's knowledge. Taehyuk had been very patient with him.

"That night when I asked to kiss you, you became so nervous, so rigid like I was diseased"

Baekhyun wanted to tell him that was not the case. He never thought of Taehyuk like that, but no words came out.

"I let it go, thinking you need time, just like I had been thinking for two fucking months of dating you. But that night, you forgot your wallet in my car. I had driven half way when I saw it and I wanted to return it to you. Hoping to see you again, and maybe going through with kissing you this time and not chickening out at the last moment."

Tears started forming in Baekhyun's eyes, although the drug made him very weak, it did nothing to ease the pain he was feeling.

"When I went in to try and find you, guess what I found?" Taehyuk asked.

Baekhyun still had no clue.

"I found my boyfriend, kissing the man he claimed to have hated. The man I hated. I saw you kiss Chanyeol like it was the most natural thing in the world. I saw you initiate the kiss. I saw you be with him like he was your safe place"

Baekhyun could see Taehyuk was crying now.

"I wanted to be your safe place Baekhyun. I wanted to be what Chanyeol is so naturally to you. I wanted to be the one you initiate your kisses with."

Baekhyun closed his eyes. He could feel the pain that resonated from Taehyuk's voice.

"You know what Baekhyun, I was ready to forgive you for what you did. I was ready to forget it all. It didn't matter to me if I was your second choice as long as I was a choice. But then, you asked for us to break up"

Taehyuk wiped his tears and walked over to where Baekhyun was. With one small pull, he had Baekhyun in his arms before he threw him on the bed. Baekhyun's eyes gaped in horror. What was happening?

"That really broke me Baekhyun. You breaking up with me was the final straw. I had been a bad person all my life, but with you, I wanted to change. No one believed me when they found out I had been steady with you for over two months. Even I couldn't believe it most of the times but whenever I saw your face, I wanted to believe that there is good in my evil heart too"

Baekhyun was crying as he looked at Taehyuk. What had he done?

"So you know what I did?" Taehyuk was laughing like a maniac now. "I spread the rumor about Chanyeol's ex girlfriend throughout the school"

"I was there that night, I had heard everything. At first I didn't want to, because I knew it would hurt you, but then you broke up with me. So I told the school about it"

Baekhyun closed his eyes.

_This is just a nightmare. This is just a nightmare. Open your eyes and it will be over._

And so he opened his eyes. But everything was the same.

"And you know what I will do to you?" Taehyuk asked. Baekhyun saw the evil rage in his eyes.

Then Baekhyun eyes traveled to Taehyuk's hands. He was unbuckling his belt.

Fear crept through every inch of Baekhyun's body. The sudden realisation of what was about to happen, made him completely numb. So much so, that for a minute, he had stopped breathing.

"I will mark you as mine" Taehyuk said, taking his belt off and slowly unzipping his trousers.

 _No._ Baekhyun was senseless. This wasn't happening. He prayed to anyone who would listen, anyone who would help.

He cried and shouted for help as loud as he could, but no sound escaped his throat.

Everything inside of him was screaming. He wanted to be able to move, to be able to save himself but when the realisation of truth struck him, he felt dead and helpless.

The sight of Taehyuk approaching him was horrifying beyond his imagination, but then he remembered something. He remembered this was not the first time this had happened.

And then, the doors of his memories flung open. Doors that he had kept shut all these years. Rather the door that the other Baekhyun had kept shut for this Baekhyun, to keep him safe from everything that had happened.

 


	36. Chapter 36

_****5 YEARS AGO**** _   
  


Baekhyun was playing soccer in the fields in his school with his friends. After playing for about 45 minutes, Baekhyun was tired and walked over the benches to drink some water. It was scorching hot but he didn't care. He loved soccer and he would play it any time of the day.

When he reached out for the water, he realised his bottle was empty.

"Yah Dae Won, did you drink all the water from my bottle?" he yelled at his friend who turned towards him and shrugged.

Baekhyun shook his head. Dea Won, his best friend was always like this. For some reason he thought everything that belonged to Baekhyun, belonged to him. The boy had even stopped carrying a bag to school, dumping all his books inside of Baekhyun's bag. After all, they spent every minute after school also together.

Baekhyun was sweating heavily, all the more reasons he needed to hydrate himself or he knew he wouldn't be able to play anymore. Sighing that he would have to walk to the end of the field to fill he bottle, he decided to just risk it for once. He was about to run back to play when he heard a strong voice.

"You shouldn't do that!"

Baekhyun turned around. It was Sehun, his classmate of almost one year now. Also the boy Baekhyun had a crush on.

Seeing his crush suddenly talk to him, Baekhyun blushed a little but it didn't show because his cheeks were already flushed because of the heat.

Sehun lent out the bottle he was holding.

"Drink this before you go back"

Hesitatingly, Baekhyun took the bottle from Sehun's hand and drank.

He low key thanked the heavens for inventing something as wonderful as water on earth. He also thanked them for creating Sehun because somehow, by his hand, even the water tasted sweeter.

"Thanks" he said, returning it back to Sehun.

"No problem" Sehun said and turned away to leave.

When Baekhyun reached his friends, he found Dae Won staring at him with a bright smile.

"Was that Sehun talking to you?"

Baekhyun tucked his lips between his teeth and beamed, nodding.

"OH MY GOD!!!!" Dea Won yelled. Holding each other's hands, the two of them jumped endlessly on the field, in the middle of the game like two kids who had discovered Disneyland. 

From the corner of the field, Sehun looked at Baekhyun.

 _Cute,_ he thought with a smile.

 

 

 

 

The next day, Baekhyun was sitting in the cafeteria when Sehun approached him.

"Baekhyun" he said in his same strong voice that melted Baekhyun's heart. He turned around to see Sehun was staring at him. In that moment, all Baekhyun wanted to do was drown in those big, brown eyes.

"Hmm?" he asked through pursed lips.

"Umm... I am having trouble with chemistry. Do you think you can help m..."

"YES" Dae Won, who was sitting on the opposite of Baekhyun, yelled suddenly.

Baekhyun turned to stare at him in horror.

"Yes he will help you." Dae Won continued. "He has nothing much to do anyway. You can come to his house at 5" he said and immediately pulled a paper and a pen from Baekhyun's bag.

Baekhyun was still staring at him, trying to understand what he was doing.

"Here" Dae Won said, handing the paper to Sehun. "That's his address. Be there at 5"

Sehun smiled at Dae Won. "Thanks" he said with a salute. He then turned to Baekhyun.

"I'll see you at 5?" he asked and Baekhyun gave out a nervous answer that was somewhere between 'yes' and 'sure'.

After Sehun left, Baekhyun looked at his friend like he would murder him.

"Thank me later" Dae Won said with a wink and immediately ran away from the table knowing how Baekhyun might stab him with a fork if he continued to stay any longer.

 

 

 

 

Exactly at 5, the bell to Baekhyun's house rang. Baekhyun jumped out of his bed to go and receive Sehun but before he could, his uncle opened the door and was staring at the boy standing in front of him. 

Sehun looked at the man in horn rimmed glasses that didn't exactly look old enough to be Baekhyun's father.

"Who are you?" he asked. It was obvious that even at 5 in the evening, he was drunk.

"Umm, I am Sehun, Baekhyun's friend. Is he home?"

Baekhyun's uncle was about to say something when Baekhyun jumped in.

"Sehun..." he said, interrupting the two. "Come right in. My room is this way"

Baekhyun led Sehun into his room and kept the door slightly ajar.

Sehun went in and spanned the room with his eyes.

It was a marvel. One side of the wall, just behind the bed, was covered in posters from bands and of people he had never even hear of. Another wall stacked shelves full of books and manga. One wall was covered with the map of the world with stickers on various places. The fourth wall was fairly empty. It contained a few certificates and awards. Sehun saw they were all certificates and prizes for Baekhyun's singing competitions. He understood what the wall was for. It was for Baekhyun's achievements.

What really took Sehun's breath away was the ceiling of the room. Painted in black, it had the Milky Way painted on it. Sehun was ready to bet anything that the stars glowed at night when the lights were turned off. 

Everything in the room awed Sehun. It was like knowing Baekhyun inside out. And he loved how nothing was really hidden about him.

"Which part of chemistry are you having troubles in?" Baekhyun asked after they were seated. 

"Organic" Sehun said softly, sitting on Baekhyun's left.

 _Thank god._ Baekhyun said in his mind. Organic chemistry was his strongest subject.

Baekhyun started the lessons with the basics, slowly delving into more focused topic. He was engrossed in the lesson all along, missing how Sehun wasn't paying attention to what he was saying at all. Rather, all his attention was on Baekhyun and how his nose crinkled everytime he changed the topic or how he pushed his glasses to the bridge of his nose every few seconds after it slipped. 

Sehun was immersed in how Baekhyun gave out a reflexive smile every time he came across a topic that was his favourite and how his perfect his lips were when he pronounced the words.

Although Sehun already knew everything Baekhyun was teaching him, although he had actually topped the organic chemistry paper, he wouldn't mind coming to Baekhyun's house for lessons everyday if he got to see this sight.

Without warning, Sehun grabbed Baekhyun's hand.

Baekhyun stopped and turned to see that Sehun was looking at him longingly. 

The smaller's lips were slightly parted with a subtle pout because he didn't understand what was happening.

Sehun stared at his lips and all he wanted to do was take them in his own.

Without realising he was doing in, Sehun leaned in a little. If Baekhyun didn't feel for him what he did for Baekhyun, the latter would move away and Sehun wouldn't approach him, ever.

Looking at Sehun lean in towards him, Baekhyun's head spun.

 _Is this really happening? Am I going to kiss Sehun?_   _SEHUN????_

Baekhyun closed his eyes and moved forward. If only he had them open, he would have seen the bright smile that had come alive on Sehun's face upon seeing him.

Just as their lips were about to meet, a loud voice disrupted them.

They turned their heads to see the door to Baekhyun's room had flung open and standing on the door was Baekhyun's uncle, staring at him.

Baekhyun quickly rushed and shut the door, locking it so that something like this would not happen again.

"Is he your older brother?" Sehun asked when he realised how embarrassed Baekhyun looked.

The smaller shook his head.

"His name is Ho Jun. He is my uncle."

"Really?" Sehun asked curiously. "He doesn't look like an uncle. That's why I asked if he was your brother"

"Well he is my father's step brother so he is not really my uncle I guess. He lost his business last month so he has been living with us since then. All he does all day is drink"

Sehun could hear that Baekhyun hated him for some reason.

"Is everything okay?" Sehun asked. "Why was he standing there staring at you like that?"

"I don't know. It creeps me out" Baekhyun shuddered. "Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and he would be standing outside my room, looking at me."

"That's creepy" Sehun exclaimed, sounding a little worried.

"I know. I told my dad about it but he doesn't seem to care. This has happened almost five times now"

Sehun didn't know what to say. "Don't worry, things will be fine" he said and Baekhyun smiled. 

Sehun checked his watch. It was close to 7 now.

"I better get going or my mum will be worried"

Baekhyun nodded, but was a little disappointed that they didn't get to finish what they had started.

 _Well there's always a next time._ Although he wasn't sure when it would be.

As if reading his mind, Sehun spoke up.

"Same time tomorrow?"

Baekhyun beamed suddenly and nodded. "Yes."

 

 

 

 

That night when Baekhyun went to sleep, the event he talked to Sehun about repeated again. But this time, it was more than just that.

Baekhyun woke up when he felt something wet on his privates. He opened his eyes to find someone's head moving up and down on his member. Baekhyun tried to move, but realised his hands had been tied to the bed post. He tried to yell, but muffled voice erupted from him as his mouth had been covered with a cloth and taped over.

The person working on him lifted his head up and Baekhyun gasped in horror. It was Ho Jun, his uncle.

He tried to free himself, whimpering and moving frantically to get this man away from him, but nothing happened. Ho Jun pressed both of Baekhyun's legs on the bed with his hands and continued what he was doing. 

Baekhyun was disgusted but it all. When he saw he couldn't do anything, tears fell from his eyes. He was crying hysterically, begging Ho Jun to stop. 

Suddenly Ho Jun looked up at Baekhyun, taking his mouth off Baekhyun's nether regions.

"So you're up huh?" he asked. "Liking this? I know you like boys" Ho Jun said.

Just because he liked boys didn't mean he would do it with anyone. He only liked Sehun.

"Stop" Baekhyun cried but indistinct noise came out.

Ho Jun continued for a few minuted before he looked up again.

"You're hard" he said with a smile.

Baekhyun wanted to yell.

"So you want this too, don't you?" Ho Jun wouldn't stop smiling.

"NOOOO" Baekhyun screamed though the cloth covering his mouth.

Baekhyun hated this, hated how his body was responding to this situation. Mentally he was in pain, he was crying, he didn't want any of this, his body responding like this didn't mean he wanted it to happen.

"Please stop" Baekhyun tried to yell but nothing audible came out. He was fighting through tears and pain to try and stop Ho Jun, to make him understand that he was not hard because he wanted to, it was an involuntary response of his body, but it did not mean he was enjoying this. 

This was rape.

Baekhyun fought, for as long as he could, for as long as his body allowed him to, but Ho Jun was stronger. After a while, Baekhyun lost every ounce of energy he had in him. But Ho Jun did not stop. He took Baekhyun's unresponsive state as consent and thus he continued to take in Baekhyun's member in his mouth, thinking he was pleasuring him.

Baekhyun laid there, lifeless. Even the tears had dried by then.

Ho Jun became more aggressive in his approach, going up and down faster and with more pace and friction.

In no time, Baekhyun had a release. When that happened, Baekhyun's tears returned again. He hated himself and his body for being so weak. For responding to Ho Jun and giving him what he wanted. Even if it was not his fault, even if it was not under his control, Baekhyun loathed himself for what he had done. 

 _It's all my fault_. Baekhyun thought through his tears.  _If I hadn't responded like I did, he wouldn't have continued this far. This is my fault._

He wanted to kill himself.

He blamed himself for things that were not his fault. He blamed himself for things that were not under his control. He believed he gave Ho Jun the consent he needed to go on doing what he wanted.

But he did not once think that just because his body responded in such a way, did not mean he was not raped.

That night, Baekhyun cried himself to sleep. 

 

 

 

 

The next day, he didn't go to school. He hid in his room all day, ashamed of what he had done, of what had happened to him. 

That day Sehun came to his house, concerned. He stood outside Baekhyun's house for hours, but Baekhyun did not go out. He thought Sehun didn't deserve someone as dirty as him. Someone who felt pleasure while he was being raped.

The same night, Baekhyun couldn't sleep. He was afraid Ho Jun would come back again. And he did.

But this time, he had no ropes to tie him up or nothing to cover his mouth.

"I want to fuck you tonight" he said, approaching Baekhyun's bed.

Baekhyun clutched his comforter and pulled it against his chest.

"Please" Baekhyun pleaded. "Please don't do this. I don't want any of it"

Ho Jun smiled. "That's not what you made me believe last night"

Baekhyun felt like his head was splitting into two.

He saw Ho Jun come near, unzipping his pants, and Baekhyun went numb.

His first instinct was to save himself. So he leapt out of his bed and dodging Ho Jun just by an inch, Baekhyun ran out into the hallway to try and hide himself. But Ho Jun was on his trail.

Baekhyun ran across the house before he ran to the kitchen. Grabbing a big knife, he turned towards Ho Jun who was advancing towards him.

"Don't be stupid Baekhyun" he said.

"Step away" Baekhyun said with a pant. "Step away or I will kill you"

"You know you won't do that. Let's just go to your room now. Stop being a tease"

"I am not being a tease" Baekhyun yelled. "I don't fucking want any of this"

"Your body tells me otherwise" Ho Jun smirked.

That was it. That was what broke every restraint Baekhyun had in him that was keeping him sane.

With one leap, Baekhyun plunged into Ho Jun who wasn't actually expecting Baekhyun to attack. He reacted a little too late, but by then, the knife has already punctured his abdomen.

With one thud, he fell to the floor.

Baekhyun looked at his blood covered hands that were holding the knife.

Realisation hit him and he threw the knife on the floor.

And then he screamed. He screamed till his voice pierced the silence of the night. He screamed till his lungs gave out. He screamed till he passed out. 

When he woke up, he was in a mental institute, caged in a straitjacket because he had tried to kill himself repeatedly.

It was then that the other Baekhyun was born. To keep this memory away from him. To keep him sane. To keep him alive. It was the other Baekhyun that absorbed all this memory so that Baekhyun wouldn't have to remember it because if he did, he would have killed himself long back for being a victim of rape.

 


	37. Chapter 37

As the memory of that unfortunate event pierced Baekhyun's mind, he found himself reliving the same day with Taehyuk standing over him. 

He stared in disbelief of how could the same thing happen to him again and how he felt the same feeling of helplessness that he had felt that day. 

He could feel the struggle inside of him, like something hidden inside was dying to come out, he just did not know what it was. 

 

 

The other Baekhyun, the  _Dark_  Baekhyun was using all his power and focus to overpower Baekhyun and come out to protect him. He did not want him to go through the same thing again. God only knew what would happen to him if he had to relive the same night once more. He was struggling with everything he had but the drug that was used to render Baekhyun to the point of unconsciousness, was playing with his mind, making it weaker and neither Baekhyun, nor  _dark_ Baekhyun had any control over it.

Still fighting his way out,  _Dark_ Baekhyun managed to come out, keeping Baekhyun away and safe, but it hardly lasted for a few seconds.  _Dark_  Baekhyun was lost inside of himself again. But in that fleeting second when he was out, he realised that he could at least move his fingers. If only he kept trying, he wouldn't be this helpless.

Baekhyun watched as he saw Taehyuk climb on the bed. His worst nightmares were beginning to come alive again.

"Nooooo" he screamed, letting out a silent cry.

"Beginning to get your senses back?" Taehyuk asked. "I guess I should have added more drugs to tame you longer"

Baekhyun could feel his toes and fingers move. His voice was back too.

"Get away from me" he managed to say.

"Oh feisty" Taehyuk responded with a smile. "It's much better this way, the more you fight, the more we'll enjoy"

Baekhyun went silent. Did he hear him right? Did he saw 'we'?

"Let me go, please" Baekhyun was begging now. He was crying. "Please don't do this"

His shoulders found a new life and he tried to hoist himself up using the strength in his arms.

When Taehyuk saw Baekhyun was regaining his senses, he smiled at him. Holding him by his hair, Taehyuk thrashed Baekhyun with one strong punch on his nose that knocked all senses out of him. 

Taehyuk stared at the unconscious body of Baekhyun before he took his phone out and dialled a number.

 

 

 

 

When Baekhyun opened his eyes, his head hurt like someone was hammering it repeatedly. When his blurred vision started to clear, he looked around.

For a moment, he did not understand where he was or why there were people hovering over him. Then he saw Taehyuk's face and every part of his body started trembling.

He got up in a reflex and realised he could move. He tried getting out of the bed but someone slapped him across his face and he landed on the bed again.

"Someone's up completely" Taehyuk said mockingly. "This will be fun"

Baekhyun stared at him and then at each face standing near him. There were a total of seven people apart from Taehyuk. Baekhyun recognised four of them. They were Taehyuk's friends. They were people Baekhyun usually met along with Taehyuk. They had dined together and laughed together. So why were they doing this now?

"Please let me go" Baekhyun ran over to one of Taehyuk's friends and grabbed his hand, pleading him. He jerked Baekhyun's hand off and smiled.

"Not today" he said.

Baekhyun cursed himself for trusting these people, for trusting Taehyuk. His eyes were wet and his face covered in warm tears. 

"Please I beg of you, don't do this. Please"

Taehyuk pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it over to one of the boys Baekhyun didn't recognise.

"Record everything" he said and Baekhyun looked at him, unable to form words that would convince him to stop.

"I'll go first" he announced to everyone and the rest nodded.

Taehyuk waked over to the bed again, pulling his pants down.

Baekhyun's fear had made him numb. What was he supposed to do now?

Suddenly, Baekhyun found himself fading away. As he blinked, he found his vision getting blurred.

A sudden pain in the gut made him squirm and crawl on the bed in to a fetal position as he clutched his abdomen that was hurting like hell.

"What the fuck?" Taehyuk asked, looking at Baekhyun acting crazy.

In the next moment Baekhyun opened his eyes and sat up straight.  _Dark_ Baekhyun had finally surfaced.

He looked at Taehyuk and smiled. The smile sent chills down Taehyuk's spine.

"You shouldn't have done this to Baekhyun, Taehyuk" he said. "He trusted you and you broke that trust. Now you will pay"

Taehyuk didn't understand what was happening. Had Baekhyun gone mad?

Swiftly, Baekhyun slid down the bed and stood there, facing Taehyuk and the rest of them. None of them tried to stop him as they were taken aback by the sudden transformation Baekhyun had shown.

"You want to have me right?" Baekhyun asked. Taehyuk stared at him blankly.

"You can have me if you survive me" Baekhyun whispered as he punched the first person who was standing beside him. The boy immediately fell to the floor, almost knocked out. Seeing Baekhyun hit one of his friends, another boy charged towards Baekhyun with a blow that the latter ducked. Baekhyun hit the boy on his back with his elbow that made the latter cry out in pain. 

Baekhyun looked at the rest of them one by one. "Tonight, you all die" he yelled.

For the next new minutes, Baekhyun fought each and everyone of them, one by one, making each fall on their knees. All except Taehyuk who stood in the corner, watching what was happening. He was still not able to comprehend what was happening.

Out of the seven people he had asked to come, five were on the floor, whirling in pain while Baekhyun was fighting two of them simultaneously. Knowing that Baekhyun would easily win and come for him next, Taehyuk looked for his opportunity.

The moment he saw Baekhyun's back was turned towards him, he smashed the thick beer bottle that he had picked up from the table, on Baekhyun's head. Baekhyun turned around to face Taehyuk who stumbled upon seeing Baekhyun unfazed.

Baekhyun took a step towards Taehyuk and the latter took a step back, fearing for his life. As Baekhyun put his next foot forward, he felt something warm stream down his face. It took him a moment to realise it was his own blood that was gushing out of his head.

He fell to the floor, leaving a satisfied smile on Taehyuk's face.

Just before Baekhyun was about to close his eyes, he saw the door of the room burst open and he faintly saw some people run inside. He wasn't sure if it was dream or that he had hallucinated it, but the faded silhouette of the person in front looked very familiar to him.

"You're safe now Baekhyun"  _Dark_ Baekhyun said before disappearing for real Baekhyun to come back. Baekhyun blinked slowly. This was the first time he didn't have a memory loss and witnessed everything like a spectator.

 


	38. Chapter 38

Chanyeol was still in Kyungsoo's room when suddenly his phone rang.

'Baekhyun Calling' flashed on his phone.

_Why is he calling me?_

Chanyeol stared at Kyungsoo and showed him the screen. Everyone who was discussing Baekhyun and him having DID suddenly went silent.

"Pick up" Chen said before the call was disconnected.

Chanyeol slid the call to the right to pick it up.

"Hello?"

_Silence._

"Hello?" Chanyeol said again and then took the phone off his ear to check if the call was still connected.

It was, so why wasn't Baekhyun speaking?

"Hello Baekhyun, are you there?" Chanyeol said but this time too, there was no answer.

He stared at the phone and was about to hang up when he heard something.

 _"He..lp"_ Baekhyun's voice ran through the earpiece. _"I can't... move"_

Panic struck. Chanyeol looked at the Kyungsoo and the others.

"It's... It's Baekhyun" Chanyeol said. "Something's wrong"

"What?" Suho yelled. "Put the phone on speaker" he said and Chanyeol did.

As soon as the phone went on speaker, they heard a loud thump, like that of a body falling on the ground.

"Baekhyun" Chanyeol yelled again. But no one spoke from the other end.

 _"Why... Why... are you doing this?"_ Chanyeol heard the fear in Baekhyun voice and his own instincts turned against him.

 _"Why am I doing this?_ _Do you really not know why?"_  It was Taehyuk's voice through a mad laughter.

The moment he heard the voice, Chanyeol started trembling. 

_What is he doing to Baekhyun?_

"Where did they go?" Chanyeol asked Baekhyun's friends. He was fighting against himself to not break down. Every muscle in his body was telling him to hold on. Saving Baekhyun was more important.

"I don't know" Yixing said. "All he said was that it was a surprise"

"Chanyeol stop panicking" Kai said. "At least we know Baekhyun is not hurt"

"Can you guarantee that it will stay the same?" Chanyeol snapped at him and Kai shut up.

"I need to find him" he yelled and was about to get up when he stopped at Taehyuk's voice that spoke from the speaker again.

_"Things were going fine between us Baekhyun. I had been so patient with you. That night when I asked to kiss you, you became so nervous, so rigid like I was diseased."_

As Chanyeol continued to hear everything Taehyuk had to say, he couldn't help but wonder if this was Taehyuk taking revenge on Baekhyun?

Chanyeol heard as Taehyuk told him how he had found them kissing in the music room. All eyes turned to Chanyeol, who was too absorbed in the conversation to notice.

Chanyeol could hear the madness in Taehyuk's voice.

Chanyeol's hands formed into a fist as the anger inside him kept rising. But he listened. Maybe there was a 'I still forgive you' at the end of all that.

But when he heard Taehyuk speak out the next sentence, something inside of Chanyeol told him that there was no forgiveness here.

Taehyuk's voice echoed from the phone.  _"So you know what I did? I spread the rumor about Chanyeol's ex girlfriend throughout the school"_

Chanyeol couldn't believe it. He had mistaken Baekhyun, beaten him up for no reason. The guilt towards Baekhyun was too overwhelming. But that combined with the hatred towards Taehyuk who made Chanyeol treat Baekhyun this way, was a deadly combination.

With every passing second, Chanyeol was fighting the urge to unleash his anger. Everyone present in the room could see it. But Chanyeol knew the only one who would face his wrath would be Taehyuk.

"I need to go save him" Chanyeol said, taking his phone and walking towards the door.

"You don't even know where he is" Xiumin said.

"I'll search till I find him" Chanyeol replied.

"Don't be stupid Chanyeol. You know this isn't the solution" Suho said.

"What am I supposed to do then?"

Before anyone could answer, Taehyuk's voice came alive again.

_"And you know what I will do you? I will mark you as mine"_

Chanyeol stared at the phone in his hand. Silence prevailed among them. All his senses suddenly failed him. Chanyeol stumbled to the floor when his kneed gave out. The words spoken by Taehyuk hung in the air, like sharp daggers that were piercing Chanyeol through every inch of his body.

People around him were doing something, they were all moving, but Chanyeol was too numb to register anything. He did not know how many minutes had passed with him staying there like that.

He needed to save Baekhyun, he had promised himself that he will protect him. And now he didn't even know where he was. 

"Chanyeol" someone shook him, "Chanyeol wake up"

Chanyeol looked up in a haze. Who was it? He knew the face, the name and yet all his mind was thinking about was Baekhyun.

"Baekhyun?" Chanyeol said softly. 

A slap that struck him across his face made him come back to reality a little.

He looked up and saw Kris looking at him.

"Get up" he said. "We need to find Baekhyun"

 

 

 

 

When Chanyeol was fully himself, he realised that the rage building inside of him had still not died down. He looked around. All of his and Baekhyun's friends were there. Everyone was there except Baekhyun. Kai seemed to have called Luhan who was with Sehun and Kris so the two of them tagged along too.

"How are we going to find him?" Chanyeol asked.

"My brother works in the police. I gave him Baekhyun's number to find the accurate location" Kris said.

Chanyeol breathed a sigh of relief. "How long will that take?" he asked.

"We should have it anytime now" Kris said and he was right. Just then his phone rang.

"Did you find it?" Kris spoke into the phone. After a couple of nods and a thank you, he hung up.

Chanyeol looked at him and Kris returned the gaze.

"He's at Green Meadows Hotel"

"That's Taehyuk's dad's hotel" Sehun said almost immediately.

"So you know where it is?" Chanyeol asked and Sehun nodded.

"Good. You're coming with us"

Everyone was on guard and ready to launch.

"Okay" Chanyeol said. 

"We head out now." Chanyeol sounded a man with a plan.

"We'll take three cars, Sehun, Suho and Kyungoo, ride with me. The rest can follow us".

Everyone nodded.

"Let's go"

 

 

 

 

The ride was longer than the imagined. for some reason, the traffic was at its peak and a half an hour drive stretched to almost 45 minutes.

Chanyeol still had his phone on, even though his battery was dying,  but all he heard was silence.

He drove like a maniac, trying to reach there. Halfway through the journey, he heard voices from the call again.

_"Nooooo"_

It was Baekhyun's voice. A huge weight shifted from Chanyeol's chest. He was alive, he was able to speak again.

_"Beginning to get your senses back? I guess I should have added more drugs to tame you longer"_

When Chanyeol heard these words from Taehyuk, he grabbed the steering even tighter with anger that was radiating through every cell of his body. 

 _"Get away from me"_  Baekhyun's voice said.

 _"Oh feisty. It's much better this way, the more you fight, the more we'll enjoy"_  

_We?_

As soon the the words were out, Chanyeol's phone died, leaving the last words spoken by Taehyuk to echo through his ears. 

Hearing those words did something to Chanyeol. His vision turned blurred. His senses failed him again. He couldn't hear a sound. He was so numb that he failed to hear Suho's voice who was yelling at him to stop the car. 

Suho knew he had no other choice. If Chanyeol continued to drive like this, they would all die before they could save Baekhyun.

"Stop the fucking car" he yelled repeatedly but nothing got through to Chanyeol.

So turned to everyone behind him. "Hold on to what you can. And hold tight"

He looked at Chanyeol, saw he was wearing his seat belt, checked his own and letting out a deep breath, he pulled the hand brake, making the car screech through the slippery snow clad road.

Other cars honked as they swerved to avoid crashing into them. 

The sudden jerk woke Chanyeol up. He looked at the road ahead and then at Suho.

"Move" Suho said, "I'll drive"

Chanyeol shook his head. "No. I can drive"

"Chanyeol" Suho's voice was soft this time, "Do you even realise you're crying?"

He looked at Suho strangely. Then with his hand he touched his cheeks. They were wet. Suho was right, he had been crying endlessly. And yet he did not even realise it.

 

 

 

It took them another twenty minutes for them to reach the hotel. Once they were inside, Chanyeol tried to ask which room was Taehyuk in.

"I am sorry sir, we are not allowed to give you this information. If you know the room number, we can direct you there"

Chanyeol banged his hand on the desk.

He tried various ways but nothing worked on the receptionist. She had instead called the security to show them the way out.

Seeing how the receptionist was not budging, Sehun walked away from them to the lobby area and called the elevator. 

He then called Suho from his phone.

"Sehun?" Suho said picking up the call. "Where are you?"

"I am at the elevator. On the count of three, push the guards and rush over to the elevator. I think I know where Taehyuk is"

Suho nodded and whispered the plan to everyone else except Chanyeol who was still busy arguing with the receptionist. 

Suho waited for Sehun's cue and when he counted to three, Suho, Kris, Tao and Kai pushed the guards away which made them lose their balance.

Suho grabbed Chanyeol by his arms and ran towards the elevator.

The guards were beginning to get up and started to run towards them.

When everyone was in, Sehun frantically pressed the button for the door to close.

The guards were closing in with each second.

Just as they were about to reach the elevator the door, it closed with a ting.

They all sighed.

"Fuck that was close" Yixing said.

"Do you know where Baekhyun is?" Chanyeol asked Sehun.

"I think I have an idea. Taehyuk has his penthouse in this hotel. All his poker games are held there.  I am sure that's where Baekhyun is"

Chanyeol nodded.

"There is just one problem" Sehun said and everyone turned to him.

"There are twenty three penthouses and I don't know which one he is in"

"We're in luck because there's eleven of us here" Kyungsoo said, placing a hand on Chaneyol's shoulders.

 

 

 

 

When they reached the top floor, They split in all directions to find which room Baekhyun was in.

At once, they barged into eleven rooms but they were all empty. They then barged into next eleven rooms. Some were occupies but none of them had Baekhyun in them.

There was just one room left. 

Chanyeol stood outside the final door with the rest of them behind him.

With one force, he kicked the door down and walked in followed by his and Baekhyun's friends.

The first thing Chanyeol saw was Baekhyun, lying in blood which he hoped was not his. He immediately rushed over to him.

"Baekhyun" Chanyeol yelled when he saw him. "I am sorry I am late" he said through his tears. 

Baekhyun looked at him through half open eyes. 

"I am safe" Baekhyun whispered to himself and closed his eyes, wanting to rest. He had done well.

Chanyeol turned to find Taehyuk being beaten by Kris.

"LEAVE HIM" Chanyeol roared and for once, everyone stopped what they were doing. Baekhyun had already beaten the rest of them to a pulp so no one actually had to do anything to fight them. But Taehyuk stood there, unscathed while Baekhyun, his Baekhyun lied in a pool of his own blood.

 _You made me hate Baekhyun,_ Chanyeol thought through the hate that he felt towards Taehyuk.

Chanyeol grabbed Taehyuk by the collar and threw him across the room. 

_You made me hurt him. You made me hurt the person I care about the most in the world._

Taehyuk got up, making himself ready to fight but Chanyeol ran to him faster than he anticipated and this time, Chanyeol picked him up and threw him on the coffee table in the middle of the room. 

_It was because of you that I beat him to death. It was because of you that I ignored him. I was even ready to step out from between the two of you._

The sound of glass crashing rang through the air. Pulling Taehyuk up, Chanyeol punched him, throwing him off his feet and into the wall. Having Taehyuk backed up against the wall gave Chanyeol the perfect opportunity. 

_You drugged him. You tried to rape him and how he is lying lifeless because of you._

He threw punches after punches, hitting Taehyuk where it hurt most. He punched him in the abdomen, then his ribs and he kept hitting Taehyuk on the ribs till he heard multiple cracking sounds.

_I will kill you tonight so that you can never hurt Baekhyun again. You can never hurt the boy I love, ever again._

When Taehyuk could no longer stand, Chanyeol bloodied his face, remembering how he had hit Baekhyun senseless because of Taehyuk. The anger rose again and he kept hitting him till Taehyuk couldn't move anymore. What lied ahead of him looked like lifeless carcass of someone who was unrecognizable. Chanyeol wanted to hurt him more but he found himself being pulled away from Taehyuk.

"Let me go" Chanyeol yelled to the others who had pulled him back.

"That's enough Chanyeol. We need to get Baekhyun to the hospital." It as Suho.

The sudden mention of Baekhyun's name suddenly calmed the beast inside of Chanyeol that was ready to wage wars.

"Move" Chanyeol said, pulling himself away from everyone's grasp.

He walked over to where Baekhyun was and picked him up in his arms.

"Let's go" he said.

Everyone turned to him and followed after him to take Baekhyun to the hospital.

 


	39. Chapter 39

The room was silent. Everything was white. The place smelled weird. The feeling of unfamiliarity closed in. Suddenly it was getting difficult to breathe. 

_Where am I?_

He tried to get up but his body failed him. Nothing moved.

Just as he was about to yell, the door to the room opened and Baekhyun saw someone he knew.

"Kyungsoo" Baekhyun cried.

Kyungsoo saw him and smiled. "You're up?"

But suddenly his face changed. The smile vanished and he was looking at Baekhyun gravely.

"Baekhyun, I don't know how to tell you this"

"What? Whats is it?" Baekhyun asked. "Am I hurt too bad?"

Kyungsoo nodded.

"It's very bad" he said with his pokerface.

Something inside of Baekhyun's heart sank.

"Am... Am I dying?" Baekhyun asked softly. Even though the idea of him dying was terrifying, he wasn't really sure if it would be a bad thing. He wasn't sure if he was strong enough if life threw more such curves his way.

"No Baekhyun, you're not dying. It's something worse than that"

 _What? What could be worse than dying?_ Kyungsoo's words made no sense to him.

"Just tell me already"

"Baekhyun" Kyungsoo placed his hand on Baekhyun's shoulders. The latter was still lying down.

"You're paralyzed from neck down"

Baekhyun stared at him. He was sure he had heard wrong. 

"I am what?" he asked again.

"Paralyzed. From neck down" Kyungsoo showed no expressions on his face which made Baekhyun more scared.

"No. No" Baekhyun said as tears formed in his eyes. "No that can't be" he said. 

"I am afraid it is true Baekhyun"

Suddenly the room started closing in. How was this happening? What had he done to deserve this?

"No Kyungsoo please tell me this is a lie"

Just then Chanyeol barged in from the door.

"That's enough" he said in a stern voice. Kyungsoo turned to look at him and Kris followed behind Chanyeol.

Kyungsoo laid his hand out and Kris laid a wad of cash.

"Fine" Kris scowled. "You win"

Kyungsoo smiled and looked at Baekhyun.

"Sorry Baekhyun but you're not paralyzed. I just made a bet with Kris to see if you would believe me."

Baekhyun blinked at him blankly. He then picked up his phone from the table beside him and threw it at Kyungsoo.

"Get out" he yelled and Kyungsoo ran off.

Baekhyun breathed a sigh. Thank god it was not true. He had been too absorbed in what Kyungsoo had said to notice Chanyeol there. When he did, he found him staring at him.

"How do you feel?" Chanyeol asked drawing his hands up to Baekhyun's cheeks.

Baekhyun turned his face, not letting Chanyeol touch him.

_Don't Baekhyun thought. I am not who you think I am._

Chanyeol smiled and withdrew his hand. 

"Rest for now" he said getting up. "We'll talk later"

Every part of Baekhyun wanted to ask Chanyeol to stay by his side. To be with him till he fell asleep, to be there when he woke up, but for some reason he believed he had no right.

"There is nothing to talk about. Thank you for saving me but that's the end of it." Baekhyun said. "Don't come back"

Chanyeol turned to stare at him. Without saying another word, he left. He didn't care how much it hurt to hear those words. Baekhyun had been unconscious for two days. And now that he was awake, Chanyeol would do anything Baekhyun asked him to. Even if it meant being away from him. 

 

 

 

 

When the visiting hours were over, all of them were asked to leave the hospital and come back the next day.

 

 

 

 

 

Once they were back in the school, everyone gathered in Chanyeol's room. Suddenly the enmity between the two groups had turned into a mutual friendship. 

They were all talking about various things. The atmosphere had become lighter now that Baekhyun was safe. Everyone was indulged in conversation while Chanyeol sat on his bed, running his hand through his hair and staring at nothing in particular.

He couldn't stop thinking about how cold Baekhyun's words had been. There was still something wrong and Chanyeol didn't know what.

Suddenly Chanyeol got up.

"Where are you going?" Chen asked, looking at Chanyeol pick up his wallet and car keys.

"I'll be back before dinner" he said and left.

 

 

 

 

The rest continued what they were doing. Everyone was tired and they needed sleep. They hadn't slept for two straight nights. 

They all got up to leave except Sehun who decided to nap on Luhan's bed.

Kai and Kyungsoo left together for Kyungsoo's room, discreetly. No one knew they were dating. They all dispersed when Kris suddenly ran up to Suho just as he was about to enter his room.

"Suho" Kris said and he turned around.

"Yes?" Suho could tell that Kris was nervous. 

"Umm..." Kris ran his hand through the back of his head. "I wanted to know if you would like to give me another shot"

Suho was surprised at the sudden words.

"I really like you Suho. And everything that happened in the last two days only made me sure of my feelings for you. I know you think I am a sex addict but I have changed."

Suho looked at him and how honest his words sounded. 

"I..." Kris was struggling with his words. "I haven't been able to do it with anyone else in the past couple of weeks. I keep thinking about y..."

Suho did not let Kris complete what he wanted to say. Before he could, he pulled him in for a deep kiss that made Kris see stars. Cupping his face, Suho intensified the contact, trying to give him all the access he needed.

Slowly Suho reached his hand behind his back and turned the knob to open the door. Continuing to kiss Kris, he pulled him inside, closing the door behind them.

 

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol couldn't help but feel uneasy about Baekhyun. Something in his mind told him that something about him was off. Something was different. But he did not know what.

When he drove to the hospital, he was stopped at the gate from entering in. And yet, he managed to go past them because he knew nothing would stop him from seeing Baekhyun.

When he reached Baekhyun's room, the lights were off. The moon cast light shadows through the window onto Baekhyun's bruised face.

In that moment, Chanyeol realised that he had never seen anyone more beautiful than Baekhyun. He was the most mesmerizing sight, despite his bruised exteriors, cracked heart and broken soul. 

Chanyeol stood there, outside the door, looking at Baekhyun through the glass panel. Hours passed but Chanyeol did not move from the door all night. He neither budged, nor did he go inside. Baekhyun had clearly asked him to not come back. But how could he not? As long as Baekhyun did not know, it was all fine.

 

 

 

 

 

Next morning when Baekhyun woke up, he tried to get up. He had been stuck on the bed for three days now and the tiredness from lying down was killing him. He wanted to move. Slowly he got up descended from the bed. Dragging his IV stand ahead of him, Baekhyun tried to walk out of the room.

The moment he slid the door open, the first thing he saw was Chanyeol, sleeping on the floor.

_Fuck._

It was cold and freezing and Baekhyun did not know how long he had been lying in the cold like that. 

_Is the security so fucking bad in here?_

Baekhyun tried to bend down but wasn't able to. So he nudged Chanyeol with his toe.

On the sudden contact, Chanyeol immediately woke up and saw Baekhyun standing over him. 

 _Shit._  He had planned to go back before Baekhyun woke up but it failed miserably.

Standing in front of him in his disheveled looks, Chanyeol proceeded to apologise for not listening to Baekhyun. But the latter was engrossed in something else.

Seeing Chanyeol with his hair undone and the puffed eyes made Baekhyun's heart skip. He had never see someone look as adorable after waking up as Chanyeol did.

Baekhyun put his hand out. Chanyeol jerked back, thinking Baekhyun would hit him but Baekhyun closed his eyes and sighed.

"Just bend down you giant fuck" Baekhyun said and Chanyeol followed.

Using his thumb, Baekhyun cleaned the remnants of what looked like Chanyeol's drool.

"Come in" he then said to Chanyeol's surprise.

"Sleep on the bed for a while. Your back must be hurting"

"No" Chanyeol replied. "I am fi..."

Before Chanyeol could finish his words, Baekhyun grabbed him by his hand and dragged him inside till he made Chanyeol lie down on the hospital bed.

"Scoot" he said and Chanyeol immediately moved.

Baekhyun smiled at how easy it was for him to make Chanyeol do things.

In the next moment, Baekhyun went over and lied down next to Chanyeol, pulling him to his left and making his hand rest over Baekhyun's waist. With Chanyeol's chest pressed against's Baekhyun's back and Baekhyun's body wrapped in Chanyeol's arms, both of them drifted to sleep in no time like they were each other's safe haven.

 

 

 

 

 

Few hours later, Baekhyun opened his eyes. He turned to see Chanyeol wasn't there anymore. The room was dark. Baekhyun wondered if he had slept through the day. He looked around, there was no one there.

Just then, someone appeared on the door. The light outside the room cast a long shadow and Baekhyun was not able to see who it was.

"Chanyeol?" Baekhyun asked. The figured moved towards Baekhyun.

"Did you miss me Baekhyun?" the voice called.

Baekhyun's eyes shot wide when he recognised the voice.

_Ho Jun._

Ho Jun kept approaching him till he was hovering over his bed. Baekhyun tried to run but he found his hands were tied to the bed, just like all those years ago.

"No" Baekhyun yelled. "Get back. Don't come near me"

"Why? Did you forget how much you love everything I did to you?"

Baekhyun closed his eyes.

"I don't" Baekhyun said. "I hate it." he was panting. "I hate myself for it" he cried.

"I don't believe you Baekhyun" Ho Jun said. "I'll make you mine so that no one else can have you."

Baekhyun was crying hysterically now. When would all this end? He felt like running into maze after maze that had no exit. He was tired and exhausted from his life now. 

"I don't want to be yours Ho Jun" Baekhyun yelled through his tears.

Ho Jun laughed. "No one else will have you Baekhyun. Do you think they will accept you after they find out how you react to my touches on your skin? It's your fault Baekhyun. You shouldn't have done that if you didn't want me to continue. I know you want me too. That's why your body was aching for a release by me"

Baekhyun looked at him with fear surfacing on his face.

"That's not true. It was not my fault. I was raped. You raped me. The way my body reacted had nothing to do with the fact that I didn't want any of it. I still don't want any of it"

Ho Jun smirked. "You can tell yourself all these things, but how will you make others believe you?"

With that Ho Jun went near Baekhyun and ran his fingers through Baekhyun's cheeks.

"Tonight I will have you" he said.

 

 

 

 

 

"Nooooo" Baekhyun yelled so loud that he woke up from his sleep. He was panting loudly.

"Baekhyun, are you okay?"

Chanyeol. It was Chanyeol's voice.

He turned around to see Chanyeol sitting on the bed, his hand was on Baekhyun's shoulder.

 _Nightmare._ Baekhyun told himself.  _It was just a nightmare_.

"Baekhyun" Chanyeol said again. "Were you dreaming?"

Suddenly Ho Jun's words pierced his mind.

_No one else will have you Baekhyun. Do you think they will accept you after they find out how you react to my touches on your skin?_

_It's your fault Baekhyun, it's your fault._

Baekhyun threw Chanyeol's hand away from him.

"Get away from me" he yelled.

Chanyeol did not comprehend what was happening. 

"Bae..." he began but this time Baekhyun pushed him away farther.

"Don't touch me. Just fuck off and don't ever show me your fucking face again"

Chanyeol knew it was not the time to argue. Baekhyun was unwell and the less he stressed, the better it would be for him.

Quietly he got up and left the room.

When Chanyeol drove back to school, there was only one thought in his mind.

_Who the fuck was Ho Jun and what had he done to Baekhyun?_

 


	40. Chapter 40

Baekhyun was discharged the next day. 

Everyone went to pick him up. Everyone except Chanyeol. And Baekhyun had to admit, his heart sank when he did not see the giant there.

 _It's all for his own good_.

The drive from the hospital back to school was full of mad laughter and useless chatter.

Baekhyun was too engrossed to notice that a black car had been tailing them all the way from the hospital.

It was a car Baekhyun recognised. It was Chanyeol's car.

 

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun straight went to his room. Even something as trivial as a car ride made him tired. All the way to his floor, his eyes searched for Chanyeol, unknown to the fact that he had been behind him, all along. 

 

 

 

 

 

Days passed and Baekhyun recovered well. But slower than he had expected. There were days when he would wake up to the horrible nightmares that had started to hound him more often than they should. 

Somehow, on those nights when he woke up panting, he craved for Chanyeol for some reason. Even he did not understand why.

_It must be because he saved me. It's obvious that I keep looking for him. He makes me feel safe._

Baekhyun convinced himself with this every time. But also told himself to not get used to this. Chanyeol was not permanent. He was just a chapter in his book that he didn't know was how long. 

 

 

 

 

 

With each passing day, he saw Chanyeol lesser and lesser. The only time he actually saw him were during their classes. Even then there was not much seeing him. He would enter the class with his head low, not making eyes contact with anyone, he would walk to the last seat and sleep. When the lectures would be over, he would wake up and leave, just like he came in.

Even Baekhyun did not initiate contact with him. He knew Chanyeol was better off with someone who was better than Baekhyun.

 

 

 

 

 

A month after Baekhyun was discharged, he found himself going down the memory lane again. The mere remembrance of it brought a bitter taste to his mouth. This time the dream was more vivid, more realistic, like it was happening right there.

He woke up, crying. But what woke up was not Baekhyun. It was the other Baekhyun, the one that protected real Baekhyun.

He sighed. Wondering when will Baekhyun be completely free of this.

Not wanting to go back to sleep, he decided to walk the deserted halls. The silence was a better company than the nightmares.

As he strolled in the building, he indistinctly heard a familiar voice coming from far away.

It was Chanyeol. Singing.

He rushed towards the voice. Ever since dark Baekhyun had seen Chanyeol barge into the room where Taehyuk had help Baekhyun, he had been looking for an opportunity to come out and talk to him. But turns out, the real Baekhyun was much stronger than he gave him credit for. He had not let this Baekhyun surface even once.

When he reached the room, to his expectation, the lights were off and Chanyeol sat by the window, staring at the stillness of the world while he sang in his heavenly voice.

It was a breathtaking sight. 

He walked silently and stood behind Chanyeol and then suddenly, placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Fuck" Chanyeol said as he leapt from his chair and faced Baekhyun.

"Baekhyun you fucking piece of shit you scared the fuck out of me." Chanyeol held his hands over his heart like it would jump out and escape if Chanyeol did not hold it in. 

Baekhyun started laughing at the sudden reaction.

"I am sorry" he said through his laughs. "I didn't mean to scare you"

"Fuck you" Chanyeol was breathing deeply. 

Baekhyun couldn't stop laughing. "How can a giant fuck like you be so scared so easily?"

"I am not scared" Chanyeol retaliated. "Of humans" he added quietly.

"Wait" Baekhyun laughed again. "You thought I was a ghost?"

By now Baekhyun was rolling on the floor clutching his stomach that was hurting from all the laughing. 

"I..." Baekhyun panted. "I don't know what's funnier. The fact that you believe in ghosts or that you're scared of them"

Chanyeol scowled. "What are you doing here? Why did you come out? Did something happen to Baekhyun?"

Baekhyun managed to launch himself from the floor and stood in front of Chanyeol now. How did he know? Baekhyun wasn't wearing his eyeliner or anything that would indicate he wasn't the real Baekhyun.

"You know it's me?" he asked.

Chanyeol nodded.

"How?" Baekhyun asked.

"I don't know how to explain. I just do. It's like I can feel him"

Even Chanyeol didn't know how he knew the difference. But the contrast between Baekhyun and Dark Baekhyun was as clear to him as night from day, even without the outlook dark Baekhyun wore. It was like his heart knew and beat faster when the real Baekhyun was in front of him.

"You know about us, don't you?"

Chanyeol nodded again.

"Who else knows?"

"I guess everyone of his and my friends know. We figured it out together"

"And none of them have problems with it?" Baekhyun was now curious.

"None of this matters to anyone of them" Chanyeol said.

"And you?" Baekhyun asked.

Chanyeol did not respond for a while. 

"I have a problem with you coming out every now and then"

"It is necessary for me to protect him" Baekhyun said. "He can't protect himself"

"That's where you're wrong. He is more than just capable of protecting himself. Have you ever let him do anything to see what he can or cannot do?"

Baekhyun listened in silence. He never had. Everytime things became even a little tough, Dark Baekhyun would come out and take it all on himself.

"How do you know if he can or can't when you won't even let him do anything?" Chanyeol asked.

Baekhyun shook his head. "I know what he is capable of Chanyeol.  I am him. You do not know what Baekhyun has been through ever since that night"

"Then tell me"

Baekhyun thought for a moment. Should he?

"No Chanyeol. It's not my story to tell. I can only tell you that Baekhyun had forgotten everything about that night. Ever since I appeared 5 years ago, Baekhyun has been kept safe from all those memories. I have kept him safe from all those memories"

"What memories?" Chanyeol asked but Baekhyun did not seem to be listening.

"You know..." he began, "... all the memory losses that Baekhyun has had for the past few years until he was sent to this school, do you know what they were about?"

Chanyeol shook his head.

"They are memories of torture"

Chanyeol eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"When the events of that night transpired, Baekhyun was sent to a mental hospital. Everytime he said that he didn't remember that night, he was tortured in the facility. I had no choice but to come out during those times because Baekhyun didn't even remember what he was being tortured for"

Chanyeol's hands formed into a fist, trying to control the anger that was rising inside of him. How could they do this to him, how could anyone do this to him?

"I've always been here to protect him from everything that he doesn't deserve."

Chanyeol was contemplating many things at once, but most of all he was contemplating if he should ask what he had been meaning to since a very long time.

"Does that night have anything to do with Ho Jun?" Chanyeol asked, taking a leap of faith.

Baekhyun looked at him in surprise.

"How... How do you know that name?"

"I heard Baekhyun call his name out when I was in the hospital with him. Is this about him?"

Before Chanyeol could get an answer, Baekhyun demeanor suddenly changed.

His eyes widened.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing Chanyeol?" Baekhyun asked and just like that Chanyeol could tell that it was his Baekhyun, the real Baekhyun.

"Just tell me who he is Baekhyun. What are you hiding?"

"It's none of your concern" Baekhyun yelled. "Mind your  _Sehun's_  fucking business"

Chanyeol looked at him is surprise but before he could ask anything, Baekhyun turned around and left.

And Chanyeol knew what he had to do.

"Thanks Dark Baekhyun _."_ Chanyeol whispered to himself with a smile. 


	41. Chapter 41

The next day, Baekhyun had his monthly checkup and he insisted on going alone. Baekhyun was in a better shape and had fully recovered to be able to drive himself so no one argued.

After Baekhyun left, Chanyeol asked everyone to gather in his room and in no time, they were all there.

Once they were all seated, Chanyeol told them about his conversation with  _Dark_  Baekhyun from previous night. Chanyeol did not want to take any help, but he also knew that whatever this was, it was beyond him. 

After he was done, he turned to Sehun, remembering how  _Dark_  Baekhyun had conveniently let his name slip within his words, hinting Chanyeol to seek him for answers. 

"Sehun, do you happen to know anything about someone called Ho Jun??"

Sehun first shook his head. The name sounded familiar but he wasn't sure where he had heard it. 

But then it clicked. 

"Oh right" Sehun said, "Ho Jun is Baekhyun's uncle. As far as I remember, he is Baekhyun's dad's step brother. Not much older than us I presume"

Chanyeol made a mental note.

Yixing who was trying to think very hard suddenly spoke up.

"Wait... I have heard that name too"

They all turned to him.

"Where?" Chanyeol asked.

"He often wakes up from his nightmares screaming that name"

"We need to find out more about him. I know there is something grave that Baekhyun is hiding" Chanyeol said. "I know he did something to Baekhyun for him to scream his name in his sleep"

Every single person present in the room was aware that this was no joking matter. If something had led to Baekhyun ending up with split personalities, it had to be something major.

"Kyungsoo, Chen, Kai and Xiumin, you four try and find out what you can from the Dean'f office. You will find Baekhyun's file there. I am presuming it will have some details" Chanyeol said.

Then he turned to others, "I, Luhan and Sehun will try to find more about this guy."

"Kris and Suho, you try to find out this Ho Jun's past records" Chanyeol then turned to Kris. "Will your brother be willing to help us?

"I will ask but I don't think he would have any problem" Kris assured.

Finally Chanyeol turned to Yixing and Tao. "You keep a close watch on Baekhyun. Make sure he is not alone"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Chanyeol" Suho suddenly said and Chanyeol turned towards him.

"Hmm?"

"I was just wondering why you're doing all this, for Baekhyun I mean"

Chanyeol looked around and saw everyone was staring at him with the same question on their faces. Everyone except Kyungsoo who was smiling like the little devil that he was.

Chanyeol cleared his throat.

"What do you mean?" Chanyeol asked innocently.

"Stop being a pussy" Kyungsoo blurted out. "And just admit it"

"Admit what?" Chanyeol asked and everyone shook their heads in disappointment before they parted ways to execute the plan.

Chanyeol didn't know what they were on about. It was true that Chanyeol had shown more care than he should towards Baekhyun and he admitted to feeling what seemed like love when he went to rescue him. But he thought it was his adrenaline in that moment that had made his heightened feelings to be confused with love. All he was sure about was that he owed Baekhyun a lot for mistreating him and hurting him and he would do anything to ease his life if it helped him even a little.

Chanyeol had lived most of his life without purpose. He just transitioned through each day because he was alive and there was nothing left to do. But helping Baekhyun gave him a purpose. Like it gave his life a meaning. And for the first time in a long time, he knew what it felt to be alive.

But more than that, he felt that he could erase his past mistakes if he did this one thing. If he saved Baekhyun, maybe he could stop being haunted by his past. Maybe this was his chance of redeeming himself. And this close association of Baekhyun with his past life and what had happened to his ex girlfriend, temporarily clouded Chanyeol's judgement about Baekhyun. Chanyeol monetarily thought he loved him, but he knew it wasn't love. He was just protective of Baekhyun because Chanyeol saw his own life being saved through him.

 

 

 

 

After everyone was gone except Chanyeol's roommate and his boyfriend, Sehun turned to Chanyeol. 

"Where do we start?"

"We need to tail Ho Jun and first" Chanyeol said. "Can you and Luhan get into Baekhyun's house and find clues?"

Sehun nodded. "It won't be easy but I will try"

All three of them got up to leave.

"Remember, nothing illegal" Chanyeol said and Sehun smiled devilishly.

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol was now parked outside Baekhyun's house. Finding the address wasn't difficult, considering Sehun had already been there.

Sehun who was sitting in the passenger's seat was giving Chanyeol a brief. 

"His father usually leaves for work at 9 in the morning. His mother stays at home and so does Ho Jun. I guess he goes out occasionally but this was what happened five years ago. I have no clue about their routine now. Plus it's Sunday so I think everyone will be home" Sehun said.

Chanyeol panned the perimeter of the house. It was a big mansion so it was obvious there would be many workers inside. He was still wondering how Sehun and Luhan would get in. 

Just then, the gates opened and a tall figure, dresses in all black, walked out.

"That's Ho Jun" Sehun said.

Chanyeol looked at the man who seemed to be in his late twenties. He was tall, but not as tall as Chanyeol. He had a round face and if he actually took care of what he looked like, he would pass as good looking too. 

"Go now" Chanyeol told Sehun and Luhan. "Try to get in. I will tail him and if he returns back, I will call you"

Ho Jun was now getting into his car. As Sehun and Luhan got out, Chanyeol started his engine and drove behind Ho Jun.

 

 

 

 

Nothing much happened when Chanyeol was following Ho Jun. He stopped at a gas station to fill the tank, then went back to driving. He kept on driving until he reached a shady bar on the outskirts of town.

Chanyeol had never been there before and was a little apprehensive if he should go inside. 

He was about to get out when he got a call. It was Sehun.

"Hello?" Chanyeol said.

"Chanyeol, where are you?"

"I am still following Ho Jun. Did you find anything?"

"We did and I think you should come back immediately"

Chanyeol hung up and without any delay, reversed his car to drive back to Baekhyun's house where Sehun and Luhan were.

 

 

 

 

After driving as fast as he could, he reached and found Sehun and Luhan standing outside, waiting for him.

They rushed to the car when they saw Chanyeol.

"What did you find?" Chanyeol asked once both of them were in the car.

"I think you need to see it for yourself" Luhan handed his phone to Chanyeol for him to see the photos he had taken.

"What is this?" 

Sehun began. "When Luhan reached his room, at first nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But then he stumbled across a box that was stacked under his bed. These are the belongings"

Chanyeol looked at the photos. They were full of child pornography. He couldn't believe what he was looking at. 

"What kind of disgusting fuck is this man?" Chanyeol asked in anger.

"That's not all" Luhan said.

"I found details of some bank account under the name 'Hidden Desirez'. I think it's a company he owns. And if you look at the photos clearly, you will find that name in some of them"

The name suddenly clicked to Chanyeol. It was the shady bar Chanyeol had seen Ho Jun enter. It was then that he realised that the bar was a front for his child pornography racket. 

The sudden realization made Chanyeol's head spin to a point where he had to force himself out of the car to vomit.

He had almost gone inside that place. 

Nothing made sense to Chanyeol. He had hoped to find a piece of Baekhyun's past. But what he stumbled upon was much, much bigger than what he had anticipated.

"What do we do now?" Sehun asked.

"I need to talk to my father" Chanyeol announced.

 

 

 

 

Sehun was driving them. Chanyeol was not able to think straight. He kept drawing up worst case scenarios and had to remind himself to not lose focus.

They were driving to Chanyeol's house, a place Chanyeol hated with every fiber of his being. He had always been a disappointment to his parents and they never missed an opportunity to show that. Both of his parents were prosecutors and hence had next to none time for him when he was growing up. Chanyeol did everything he could to get their attention. He rebelled in every way possible and when they couldn't keep up with his antics anymore, they dumped him at the school.

Chanyeol laughed when he thought how his parents didn't even know what their son had been through all those years ago when his girlfriend had killed herself.

As they pulled in the driveway, Chanyeol turned to Sehun and Luhan.

"You guys wait here, I'll just be a minute"

They nodded and Chanyeol went inside his house.

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol was in luck that it was a Sunday or else he would have to ask for an appointment to see his own father.

As Chanyeol entered, his father, Mr. Park was reading the newspaper in the living room.

When he heard the door open and close, he moved his yes from the newspaper and saw his only son walk in. It had been months since Chanyeol had been in the house.

"Chanyeol" Mr. Park said, "What are you doing here? Did you get expelled?"

Chanyeol laughed. "It's funny how we're meeting after almost half a year and your first question isn't if I am okay. It's if I was expelled"

Mr. Park cleared his throat. "What brings you here?"

Chanyeol shifted his weight from one leg to another. He hated asking for favours. Especially from his own parents. But he knew this wasn't the time to play up his ego.

Chanyeol sighed and pulled Luhan's phone out of his pocket before handing it over to his father.

"This belongs to a man called Ho Jun. I think he runs a child pornography business using a bar as a front. It's called Hidden Desirez and is located 30 kms south of the city. I need you to prosecute him"

Mr. Park stared at the phone and then at Chanyeol.

"How... How are you involved in this?" he asked, suddenly all his fears were crawling to him.

"I am not. It's someone one of my friends knows. All I know is that he has done some really bad things and I want him to end up in prison for the rest of his life"

Mr. Park let out the breath he had been holding all this while. 

He looked at the photos again.

"This is not how it works" he said. Chanyeol found his anger rising again. He should have known he would not get any help here. Just as he was about to say this out loud, his father spoke again.

"You have to first file a complaint with the police. After they investigate, the case is sent to the court. Did you break in the house by any chance. Because if you did, this proof would be inadmissible"

Chanyeol's looked at his father is shock. This is the most he had spoken to him in all the years combined. He had never expected him to help. With the same shocked expressions, he shook his head.

"My friends were invited in"

Mr. Park nodded. "Good. First take this to the police and register a complaint against him"

Chanyeol nodded and immediately turned around and left.

Mr. Park stared at Chanyeol as he ran off. For the first time in all the years, he was proud of his son. He was finally doing something that was right.

 


	42. Chapter 42

Once Chanyeol was back in his car, he called Kris to arrange a meeting with his brother. Knowing he was in the police, Chanyeol was hopeful that he would take care of the things.

They rushed to the precinct where he was stationed.

"You must be Chanyeol" Kris's brother Alex said, greeting him and others.

Chanyeol nodded. "This is Sehun and this is Luhan. We are Kris's friends"

"What can I help you with?" Alex asked.

"I presume Kris has given you a brief?"

Alex nodded taking his notebook out. "He told me to do a background check on one Ho Jun"

"Did you find anything?" Sehun asked, hoping there was something.

Alex shook his head. "The only thing we could draw was that his company went bankrupt some five years ago, he does not have as much as parking ticket"

Chanyeol found this to be strange. How did this man, who was such a disgusting being had such a model persona drawn out for himself?

He took Luhan's phone from his hand and showed the pictures to Alex who stared at them in horror.

"What is this?" he asked.

"This belongs to Ho Jun. He is somehow involved in child pornography and I am here to file an official complaint"

Alex understood the urgency of the situation and immediately sat down in front of his computer to register Chanyeol's complaint.

 

After they were done, Alex turned to them.

"Don't worry. I will look into this."

Chanyeol and others thanked him and quickly left.

Alex saw the complaint and took it to his senior to get it signed and approved.

When he went inside his senior's cabin, he was not there. So he just left the paper on the desk, positive that things will proceed once his senior read the paper. 

 

 

 

Chanyeol felt at ease after the most important step was taken care of. All this while he had felt that his lungs were caged in barbed wire. But now he felt a little free.

 

 

 

Baekhyun had been looking for his friends all day. After he came back from the checkup in the evening, the only people present there were Yixing and Tao and for some reason, they did not leave him for even one second.

Baekhyun was walking down the hall to go to the library when he noticed Yixing and Tao walking behind him. They were not even being discreet about it. In fact they were walking so close behind Baekhyun that if he turned around, he would manage to slap both these idiots on their cheeks. 

Suddenly Baekhyun stopped and just like he had anticipated, Yixing and Tao crashed into him.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Baekhyun asked in anger.

The duo started looking at random things immediately, acting like they didn't know what Baekhyun was talking about.

"Really?" Baekhyun asked, "Do you think I am that stupid to not notice what you are doing?"

Yixing looked at Tao who was shaking his head, indicating him to say anything. 

"Fine" Yixing said, sighing. "We are following you"

"Were you?" Baekhyun asked, acting shocked in sarcasm. "I didn't even notice"

"See I told you" Tao said, turning to Yixing. "He didn't even know we were following him till you told him"

Baekhyun smiled at Tao and gestured him to come near and the latter followed. The moment he did, Baekhyun smacked his head with is hand.

"Stop following me or you both won't be able to walk for days"

With that, Baekhyun turned around and left. 

When Baekhyun reached the library, it was fairly empty. He found a book and perched himself in the farthest corner where humanity wouldn't reach him. He read for a while but soon his eyelids grew heavier and he dozed off.

 

 

 

When Chanyeol came back, it was past dinner time and the first person he looked for was Baekhyun. Yixing and Tao told him that Baekhyun was at the library so Chanyeol rushed over. 

When he reached the library, he saw it was deserted. Even the lights had been turned off. 

He searched for Baekhyun for a few minuted before finding him in the farthest corner of the world. Of course everyone had left and none of them bothered to wake him up. No one even came this far back. 

Chanyeol saw Baekhyun was sleeping with his head on the table, resting over his arms. Chanyeol took the seat next to Baekhyun and imitated him, he folded his hands in front of him and and placed his head on them. 

He looked at Baekhyun and smiled. He looked so peaceful in that moment that Chanyeol wanted to pick him up and take him away from the world that had been hurting him till now. 

He pulled his hand out from under his head and stroked Baekhyun's hair lightly.

How are you this adorable while sleeping? 

A minute after Chanyeol had brushed his hand against Baekhyun's hair, he heard the voice he had come to love.

 

 

 

"What the fuck do you think you're doing Park Chanyeol?"

Baekhyun spoke even though his eyes were still closed.

Chanyeol didn't flinch.

"How did you know it was me?"

Baekhyun opened his eye slowly and Chanyeol swore he felt like his own desires were waking up.

I always know when it's you.

"Who else will do this stupidity of waking up a sleeping person?" Baekhyun said instead.

Chanyeol backed away immediately.

"I am sorry" he said regrettably, "I didn't mean to disturb you."

He got up to leave when Baekhyun caught his arms and pulled him back down.

"Stay" he whispered softly.

Chanyeol felt his breathing hitch when he heard him.

Slowly he descended back to where he had been sitting.

Baekhyun was upright now. He was looking at Chanyeol who was nervous for some reason. Pursing his lips, Chanyeol looked at random things around the library. His eyes traveled everywhere, except Baekhyun's.

Sudden curiosity rose inside of Baekhyun. His eyes fell on the tiny puncture on Chanyeol's cheeks and he found his heart fluttering.

Chanyeol had no idea of the impact his dimple had over Baekhyun and how much it drove him crazy. 

"Chanyeol" Baekhyun said, breaking the tension that was building between the two of them.

"Hmm?" Chanyeol said, raising his eyebrows. Just when Baekhyun had thought Chanyeol couldn't get any cuter, he dropped this look that made Baekhyun forget what he was about to ask.

He stayed silent for a moment, looking at Chanyeol like closing his eyes would make him forget his face.

Don't give in to temptation Baekhyun, you're better than that.

Baekhyun thought of his own past. He though of himself as someone who was contaminated for some reason. He thought Chanyeol deserved someone who was better than him. He wondered if Chanyeol would be happy with someone else. If he would look at the person the same way he looked at Baekhyun. Baekhyun wondered if that someone would look at Chanyeol the way Baekhyun looked at him. 

He had long back given up on finding his own happiness. Baekhyun thought he didn't deserve it. That others were better off without him. But coming to this school had changed so many things. Meeting Chanyeol had changed so many things for him.

"What is it?" Chanyeol asked when Baekhyun had not spoken at for a while.

Baekhyun blinked. "Umm..." Baekhyun looked less lost in thoughts now.

"Why do you care so much about me? We are rivals, remember?"

"Do you really think I think of you as a rival?" Chanyeol almost immediately replied, surprising Baekhyun, like he wasn't expecting a question at all.

"Do you even think of me?" Baekhyun asked, not sure of why he had asked that. 

"Every time"

Baekhyun stared at Chanyeol blankly, not sure if he had heard right.

Before he could ask anything, Chanyeol continued.

"I think of you all the time, you never leave my mind Baekhyun. Even when I am asleep I keep dreaming of you. I don't why but I want to always protect you. I want to be the one you find standing when you turn around. I want to give you everything you deserve and you deserve so much. So fucking much. You're like the blood that runs in my veins. I can't get rid of you. And I don't think I want you."

Baekhyun absorbed every word Chanyeol said. He never imagined he would ever be so important to someone. He never thought someone would ever think of him this way. 

"But you keep rejecting me for some reason." Chanyeol continued. "I just want to make you happy"

In that moment Baekhyun forgot every reason he had to restrain himself from giving into Chanyeol. He forgot everything in his past and he did not care of the future. He just wanted to be with Chanyeol now. Nothing else mattered to him.

Baekhyun slid his hands behind Chanyeol's neck and pulled him in. It was funny how this was their second kiss and even this time it was Baekhyun who had initiated it. Like it was becoming a ritual.

Chanyeol's eyes flew open with the sudden contact before he closed them again when his lips tasted Baekhyun's.

God knew how long Chanyeol had been waiting for this. Everytime he had seen Baekhyun since the first time they kissed, Chanyeol had to practically restrain himself from pulling Baekhyun in and wanting for their bodies to touch again. 

Just like last time, the kiss was soft at first before Baekhyun grew hungrier. He pulled the both of them from the chair to the couch. Standing in front of Chanyeol, Baekhyun pushed him onto the couch before sitting on top of him.

He cupped Chanyeol's face with his hand as the latter grabbed Baekhyun by the butt to draw him closer.

Baekhyun smiled. He didn't even know if it was humanly possible but Chanyeol's touches, no matter how wild were always gentle on him. 

Slipping his arms around Chanyeol's shoulders, Baekhyun leaned in for for a kiss but drew back a second before their lips were about to meet.

He saw Chanyeol reach up to meet Baekhyun, desperately.

Baekhyun did this a couple more times before Chanyeol flipped him on the couch and pinned Baekhyun below him.

"Stop teasing me" he growled and Baekhyun had to admit that he just heard the sexiest grunt to exist. 

"Make me" Baekhyun teased again and Chanyeol lost all control over himself. 

Chanyeol took his shirt off and Baekhyun saw the marvelous sculpture that he believed should be on display more often.

He then reached for Baekhyun's shirt which the latter took off almost immediately. Chanyeol was in awe of Baekhyun's body. He leaned down and kissed Baekhyun on the neck before trailing his kisses down all the way to his navel. 

"You're so fucking beautiful Baekhyun" Chanyeol said. Baekhyun took his face in his hands and pulled him back in for another kiss. 

Chanyeol let his body weight fall on Baekhyun and bit Baekhyun's lower lip before he felt his erection rubbing against that of Baekhyun.

"Fuck" Baekhyun moaned. "I am hard"

"So am I" Chanyeol whispered into Baekhyun's ears. Just the sound of his whisper was enough to drive Baekhyun mad.

Chanyeol proceeded to reach Baekhyun's pants but Baekhyun stopped him.

"Next time" he said and Chanyeol withdrew his hands, thinking he was going too far and wouldn't do anything to upset Baekhyun.

He was about to get up when Baekhyun pushed him away until he was seated on the couch. Baekhyun slid down and positioned himself between Chanyeol's legs.

"What are you doing?" Chanyeol asked in confusion. Baekhyun got up and kissed Chanyeol. 

"Today is about you" he said softly. 

Kissing him all the way from his lips down to his waist, Baekhyun stopped at his waistline. 

He teased Chanyeol again, trailing his fingers on Chanyeol's erection over his pants that the latter was desperate to get rid of.

"Stop Baekhyun you're driving me crazy" Chanyeol said, biting his lips. Baekhyun couldn't believe how sexy Chanyeol looked while doing it. 

Smiling, Baekhyun slowly unzipped Chanyeol's pants which the latter slid down immediately as he couldn't control anymore. The moment the pants slid down, Chanyeol's throbbing erection sprung free.

The weather was still cold but Chanyeol did not feel anything except the heat that was radiating off the two of them.

Before Baekhyun took Chanyeol's shaft in his hand, he looked up at Chanyeol. All he wanted in that moment was to love him and to make him as happy as he had made him. And he wanted to do it in any way possible, but he was clueless.

"I haven't done this before" Baekhyun confessed innocently.

Chanyeol stared at him and blinked. "Neither have I" he said softly with a hint on embarrassment in his voice.

"Wait... what the fuck?" Baekhyun asked, suddenly forgetting what they were in the middle of. "Aren't you famous around the school for being a pro fuckboy?"

"I am what?" Chanyeol asked, surprised by what Baekhyun had just said. "I don't even know what that is." Chanyeol silently hoped for the conversation to end so that he could finally see what heaven felt like.

"There are many such rumors about you sleeping with just about anyone and everyone"

Chanyeol cleared his throat. "I have an image to maintain. How will I be feared if they know I am still a virgin?" Chanyeol's cheeks grew red in embarrassment.

Baekhyun laughed at how stupid this giant sitting in front of him was.

"I guess you won't know if I am making a mistake then"

And just like that, Baekhyun suddenly parted his lips to take Chanyeol's throbbing erection in his mouth.

"Fuckkkk" Chanyeol yelled as a wave of surprise and pleasure rolled through his body as Baekhyun's warm mouth wrapped around him.

Baekhyun rubbed Chanyeol's shaft from the base while playing with the tip using his tongue.

He continued to move his mouth up and down Chanyeol's. Chanyeol swore the sight of Baekhyun doing this to him was far more pleasurable than the actual feeling of being blown. 

Chanyeol did not understand how Baekhyun was still so good at this considering how it was his first time. Baekhyun continued to yank his shaft repeatedly while still moving his tongue on the tip.

Chanyeol's primal instincts kicked in, be wanted to be inside of Baekhyun. He was about to place his hand on Baekhyun's head to tell him to go down further when suddenly Baekhyun took all of Chanyeol into his own, as if reading his mind. This turned Chanyeol on even further.

"Oh my fucking god" Chanyeol yelled at the ceiling with his palms formed into a fist. If Baekhyun continued to do this, Chanyeol would release soon. He still did not know how he had managed to control this far.

Taking all of it in made Baekhyun wilder. He started pacing his movements with each reaction Chanyeol gave. 

"Baekhyun" Chanyeol said but Baekhyun did not stop. He continued to pleasure Chanyeol who felt like he was about to split open.

"Baekhyun I... am... about... to..."

Before Chanyeol could end his sentence, he released his load on Baekhyun's face who had withdrawn at the last moment.

"Come?" Baekhyun asked, opening his eyes that had involuntarily closed when Chanyeol came on his face.

"Fuck" Chanyeol said. "I am so sorry." He looked around for something to use to clean Baekhyun's face. He immediately ran to the table nearby to grab tissues.

Taking few out, he cleaned Baekhyun's face, despite the latter telling him that he can do it himself.

"I am so sorry Baek"

Baekhyun eyes turned to stare at him. This was the first time Chanyeol had called him Baek.

He smiled. "It's okay Chanyeol, you don't have to apologise for this"

"I'll be back after I wash my face" Baekhyun said.

"I'll come with" Chanyeol said. 

Baekhyun walked to the library's washroom and cleaned his face while Chanyeol stood there, unable to take his eyes off of Baekhyun.

The latter saw him through the mirror.

"What are you looking at?"

Chanyeol did not move his eyes.

"Something that's mine." he said softly.

"What?" Baekhyun asked, turning around.

"Nothing" he said instead.

"Let's go" Baekhyun said after he was done but before he could pass Chanyeol, the latter grabbed him by his hand and pushed his against the wall.

Leaning closer, he rested his lips close to Baekhyun, very near, yet not touching.

"I want to kiss you again" he whispered. 

Baekhyun felt Chanyeol's warm breath on his own lips.

"Who stopped you?" Baekhyun asked and just like that, Chanyeol took Baekhyun's lips in his own.

"You're sleeping in my room tonight" Chanyeol announced after he broke away from the kiss. He grabbed Baekhyun by his wrist and started pulling him behind himself, in the direction of his room.

"What about Luhan?" Baekhyun asked.

"He is with Sehun" Chanyeol said turning around. 

He placed a soft peck on Baekhyun's lips and for some reason, the soft peck was more intimate to Baekhyun than everything they had shared so far.

Leaning into Baekhyun's ears, Chanyeol whispered softly the words that made Baekhyun go weak in his knees. 

"Tonight I am all yours"


	43. Chapter 43

Baekhyun woke up with a loud gasp. As the cold air hit his lungs, he tried to absorb his surroundings.

 _This isn't Chanyeol's room_.

Then the smell of old books hit his nose.

He was still in the library?

Then he suddenly remembered the  _dream_ he just had.

"Did I just... Did I just dream about giving Chanyeol a..."

"Giving me a what?" a voice called out from Baekhyun's right.

He instantly jumped from his chair at the suddenness.

"What the fuck Chanyeol?"

Baekhyun sat up, looking at an almost sleepy Chanyeol who was now sitting straight and looking at him.

"How long have you been here?" Baekhyun asked, shying a little as the remnants of his dream pierced his senses.

"Giving me a what?" Chanyeol asked again. "You were dreaming about me, weren't you?"

A playful smile erupted on his face and Baekhyun averted eyes as the shame and guilt flooded in.

"I was not" Baekhyun announced suddenly standing up.

"You were, weren't you? Tell me what you saw" Chanyeol said through his beaming face.

"Fuck you" Baekhyun announced before storming off from there.

"Tell me what you were giving me in your dream" Chanyeol yelled behind him as he saw Baekhyun run off.

"Fuck off" Baekhyun yelled back as his voice echoed through the deserted library before falling on Chanyeol's years. The latter couldn't help but laugh.

_So he thinks about me too eh?_

 

 

 

Baekhyun ran to his room with his hands on his heart. He felt like it would explode. He had never had such a dream about anyone and to think that it was Chanyeol he saw, made him more confused.

Standing outside his door, Baekhyun looked at the knob for a few seconds before turning it.

_Calm down. It was just a dream._

_Or not._ A voice in his mind told him.

_No no. It was just a dream. It did not mean anything. People have such dreams all the time, it's normal._

_Yea but how many of them dream of doing this to someone they hate?_

_I don't hate Chanyeol._

_Then what do you feel about him?_

_I don't know..._

Baekhyun thought about it. What  _did_  he feel towards Chanyeol?

He shook his head. This was not the time to think about him especially since all of his senses were heightened because of the stupid dream he saw.

Slowly turning the doorknob, Baekhyun went into the confines of his room, feeling doomed.

 

 

 

 

Three days had passed since Chanyeol had followed Ho Jun and there was still no revert from Kris's brother, Alex.

Chanyeol was getting impatient.

On the fourth day of still no answer from him, Chanyeol asked Kris for his number to call him.

"Hello?" Chanyeol said, "This is Chanyeol, Kris's friend"

"Hi Chanyeol" Alex sounded low, "I was meaning to call you"

Chanyeol's hopes rocketed. "Did you find anything?"

Alex sighed. "No Chanyeol. I am afraid there was nothing of the sort you mentioned, either in his house or in the bar"

"What?" Chanyeol would have accepted if the bar wasn't used for illegal stuff because he had never actually been inside to confirm it, but Luhan and Sehun had clearly seen all those photos in Ho Jun's room.

"There's a box under his bed. The photos are in there" Chanyeol said.

"We searched every inch of that house Chanyeol" Alex said. "Not a single thing was out of place"

After he hung up, Chanyeol paced in the room.

_How is this possible? Where did the box go?_

_Could it be, perhaps, that Ho Jun somehow came to know about it all? But how?_

Chanyeol knew he would have to find another way.

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun had been ardently avoiding Chanyeol by all means. Of late, it also meant avoiding his friends because for some reason, they all hung out a lot together lately.

He was still trying to figure out his own feelings towards the giant and when Chanyeol was not present, Baekhyun thought of him already more than what was required. God only knew where his mind would run when Chanyeol was actually present in front of him.

For the past four days, his dream had been bothering him. even now when he thought about it, he found his cheeks getting flushed by heat. It was almost as if the dream was real.

Chanyeol had repeatedly tried to talk to Baekhyun over the past few days but Baekhyun immediately ran off in the opposite direction of wherever he found Chanyeol.

His mind was bothering him, especially when he wasn't sure of what he felt towards Chanyeol. Baekhyun was sure it was not hatred. It was never actually hate. But neither was it friendship. They had never hung out as friends except maybe once. And then there was this kiss they had shared. The kiss that made Baekhyun question his feelings towards Taehyuk, his ex boyfriend who had drugged him and tried to rape him. Chanyeol was the one who saved Baekhyun that unfortunate night.

Baekhyun knew he owed his life to Chanyeol. He was grateful beyond what he could ever express.

_But what kind of stupid fuck dreams of pleasuring a person who saved his life?_

Baekhyun just beginning to find clarity when he suddenly dropped back to square one with his feelings.

"I need to talk to someone" Baekhyun announced as he glanced over at Yixing's empty bed.

Yixing had told Baekhyun he would be at Tao's room doing homework so Baekhyun decided to go there instead.

 

 

 

 

"Fuck" Baekhyun said as he stood outside Tao's room and faced the door on the opposite. He had completely forgotten that Chanyeol's room was right in front of Tao's.

For a moment he was tempted to open and go in to check what Chanyeol was doing but he shook his head. Clearing his own mind was more important.

 

 

 

 

"I need to talk to you" Baekhyun announced as he entered Tao's room. He found them playing UNO instead of doing their homework.

"About what?" Yixing asked and Tao stared at Baekhyun.

He didn't know where to start or how to speak to them without being obvious. But he gave it a shot.

"One of my friends needs advice" Baekhyun began not even sure why he was talking to these two instead to Suho or Xiumin or Kyungsoo. But then, talking to these two would be easier because the others would call Baekhyun on his bullshit immediately.

"Okay. What's wrong?" Tao asked.

Baekhyun sighed. "So I have these two friends, let's call them C and B. Okay?"

Both of them nodded.

"C and B were rivals, they hated each other. Then B started dating a guy, let's call him T. Now B thought he really liked T but then one day B and C kissed. Neither of them knew what it meant but then B broke up with T. Then T got mad and wanted to take revenge on B so he tried to hurt B"

"Hold on" Yixing said interrupting him. "I think I know this story"

Baekhyun suddenly stopped breathing.

_Fuck, was I too obvious?_

"Yea me too" Tao said and Yixing and Tao looked at each other before smiling.

 _FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK_ _._

Baekhyun couldn't help but curse his own stupidity.

"You're talking about Kai and Kyungsoo, aren't you?"

Baekhyun blinked blankly. "What?"

"That's right" Yixing said. "This story reminds me of them"

"Which part exactly?" Baekhyun asked in confusion as he rubbed his forehead with his hand. Dealing with these two was not short of wanting to kill yourself repeatedly.

"The kiss part" Tao said, "I saw them kiss a few days ago"

Baekhyun closed his eyes in frustration. "You think this story is about Kyungsoo and Kai because you saw them kiss? And you conveniently ignored the rest of the story?"

Yixing spoke up. "Gosh Baekhyun we do not know every detail of their life. Who knows it might even be true"

Somehow Yixing's logic made sense to Baekhyun and he wondered if his brain cells had started to die.

"It's not about them. These friends are not from this school. You do not know them SO CAN WE PLEASE FOR FUCK SAKE CONTINUE?"

Baekhyun spoke through gritted teeth and Tao sighed.

"Fine" he said.

"So as I was saying" Baekhyun continued, "T tried to hurt B and not just hurt hurt but  _HURT_ hurt. C with his friends saved B. Since then B has been thinking of C a lot and B even had an inappropriate dream about C a few days ago"

"How inappropriate?" Tao asked.

That was not the question Baekhyun was expecting.

"Very inappropriate" Baekhyun answered, feeling a rush of heat rise to his cheeks again.

"I am confused" Yixing asked. "Are B and C friends now? Or do they still hate each other?"

Baekhyun had no answer. Even he wasn't sure of what they were.

He was trying to think when a sudden epiphany made him act on impulse.

"Wait here" Baekhyun announced and immediately rushed out of the room. Running across the hallway, he suddenly barging into Chanyeol's room.

The moment he entered, he saw Luhan and Sehun on Luhan's bed sifting through what looked like photos. The moment they saw Baekhyun, they tried to hide it but the latter was too engrossed in the reason he was in the room for.

He turned his head to find Chanyeol sitting on his bed with his light framed spectacles resting on his nose that he pushed gently when he raised his head to look at Baekhyun.

"Wh... What are you doing here?" Chanyeol asked.

Baekhyun did not move from the door.

"Park Chanyeol" he announced and Chanyeol's heart started beating louder. "Are we friends?"

At first Chanyeol did not understand what the question was, so he was too dumbstruck to answer.

"Well?" Baekhyun continued. "Are we?"

Chanyeol bit into his lower lip and slowly nodded. Scrunching his eyebrows, he stared at Baekhyun.

"Ye... Yes. I guess w..."

Baekhyun closed the door behind him and rushed out before Chanyeol could even finish speaking.

"What the fuck just happened?" Luhan asked, staring at Chanyeol who just shrugged, asking himself the same question.

Baekhyun ran back into Tao's room. They were playing UNO again.

"Yes" he said walking in. "They're friends."

"Thought so" Yixing said, "Me too" Tao said and Baekhyun stared at them.

"Why did you ask me if you knew?"

"Confirmation is pertinent in such matters" Tao said.

 _Wow_. Baekhyun thought.  _These guys are wiser than they show_.

"So the main reason why I am here is because B doesn't understand his feelings towards C"

"Well it's obvious, isn't it?" Yixing said.

"What?" Baekhyun asked. "What is obvious?"

"B still hates C" Yixing said.

Tao shook his head. "No no. B Loves C"

"No man it's hate"

"Nah bro it's love"

Baekhyun dabbled his head between Tao and Yixing for a few seconds before stopping them.

"Shut up" he yelled. "Both of you" and they turned to look at him in silence.

"How do you know what B feels when even B doesn't know how he feels?" Baekhyun was looking at the two of them intently.

"Don't question our wisdom" Tao replied with a sass. "Let us test B instead"

"How does B feel when B and C look into each other's eyes?". It was Yixing who asked that.

"Umm..." Baekhyun began but wasn't able to complete his sentence. He did not know how it felt because he had never thought about it before.

"Wait here" Baekhyun said again and ran out from Tao's room and back into Chanyeol's. This time he rushed over to his side of the bed and sat down, making Chanyeol jump a little.

"Wha..." Chanyeol began to ask but Baekhyun shushed him and he immediately followed the command.

Baekhyun reached over and took Chanyeol's glasses off. Then he stared into Chanyeol's eyes. He was looking at him with his eyebrows arched together.

 _What is happening?_  Chanyeol thought.

Luhan who watched the entire spectacle immediately took his phone out and texted Kai.

**'Come over to Chanyeol's room immediately and bring whoever you can find'**

Baekhyun tilted his head in all angles and switched between narrowing his eyes to completely opening them wide to stare into Chanyeol's dark brown orbs.

_What was Yixing even talking about? The only think I feel is awkward._

With that Baekhyun shut his eyes and ran out of the room again.

The moment he closed the door behind him, he met Kai, Kyungsoo and Chen at the door.

Without a word Baekhyun turned and ran to Tao's room as the rest entered Chanyeol's room.

 

 

 

"Nothing" Baekhyun announced, breathing a little heavily.

"B feels nothing when he looks into C's eyes"

"Hmm" Tao said, "Interesting"

"What? What's interesting?" Baekhyun asked, as he took deep breaths to calm himself down.

"I was sure he would feel something"

"Does this test even work?" Baekhyun was looking at Tao in absolute confusion.

"Everytime" he answered. "Next question" he then said.

"How does B feel when he touches C? Like an accidental brushing of arms or holding hands together?"

Baekhyun remembered the time when they had kissed before Christmas. Chanyeol's fingers sent electric shocks through Baekhyun's body. But it was a different time. A lot had happened since then and a lot of things had changed. He was not sure what he would feel when he and Chanyeol came in contact.

"Wait here" Baekhyun said again and rushed off.

"Where the fuck does he keep running off to?" Yixing asked Tao.

Tao shrugged and the both of them went back to playing UNO.

Baekhyun entered Chanyeol's room a third time and everyone inside was not even surprised anymore. Baekhyun ran over to Chanyeol and sat down. With his left hand, Baekhyun held Chanyeol's wrist and with his own right hand, Baekhyun clutched the wrist of his own left hand.

"Is he checking their pulses?" Kai asked in a low voice, not wanting to disturb them.

No one knew what was actually happening. Kyungsoo unlocked his phone and silently took a photo of the drama taking place in front of him and sent it to Suho.

**'Come to Chanyeol's room ASAP. The world is about to end'**

Suho who was in the cafeteria with Kris and Xiumin dropped his food and ran towards Chanyeol's room as soon as he saw the photo.

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun was feeling their heartbeats. His own heart was beating fast, because he had rushed to and fro. But why was Chanyeol's heart beating with the same pace as his?

_This test is fucking stupid. There are no accurate results._

Thinking that, he got up in frustration, cussing under his breath and left.

Chanyeol shook his head to clear his mind.

"Am I dreaming? Is this a dream? Someone pinch me"

Kyungsoo immediately got up and walked over to Chanyeol's bed before smacking him hard across his face.

"Oww" Chanyeol yelled. "That fucking hurt Kyungsoo"

"You're not dreaming" he said, turning around with a smile and going back to his original position near Kai.

Kyungsoo turned to Kai once he was settled. "Always wanted to do that" he said and Kai started laughing.

 

 

 

 

"B... feels... nothing... when... he... touches... C" Baekhyun announced to Tao and Yixing amidst short breaths.

"Strange" Tao said, "The touch should have been a sure indicator"

"I think your test sucks" Baekhyun said.

"The test doesn't suck. The test taker sucks" Yixing retaliated.

Baekhyun was about to say something when Tao interrupted him.

"There's just one final way to find out"

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun calmed himself down. This was not supposed to be rushed. He sat down and then got up when sitting down made him restless.

 _Breathe_.  _Breathe Baekhyun. It's not a big deal. You can do it. Remember your feelings will clear out after this. It is worth a shot._

With that, Baekhyun went into the room one final time. But this time, there was no rush, no urgency.

 

 

 

 

He opened the door and calmly stepped in. His mind was only focused on Chanyeol and he did not even notice the eight pair of eyes that were staring at him from across the room.

Slowly Baekhyun walked over to Chanyeol who was looking straight at him.

This time, Baekhyun did not sit or ask for his hand.

He simply walked over and placed his hands on the sides of Chanyeol's face. Baekhyun leaned down and Chanyeol's breath was suddenly caught in his throat.

Baekhyun let out one final heaving sigh before he closed the distance between them by leaning down to kiss Chanyeol straight on the lips.

The other eight people in the room ended up with gaped mouths from the shocking incident they had just witnessed.

_"The kiss will tell B what he truly feels for C"_

Yixing's words resonated in Baekhyun's mind as he walked the hallways outside Chanyeol's room.

_"The kiss will tell him everything"_

_"How?"_  Baekhyun had asked. It did not make sense to him.

" _It_  just will Baekhyun." Tao had said.  _"There is no way B won't know if he loves him or not once he kisses C"_

As Baekhyun found himself walking down the halls, he found a strange settlement in his heart.

 _I love_   _him_.  _I love Park Chanyeol._

The kiss had told him of his own desires. Of his hidden feelings. All his apprehensions had vanished in that moment. The way Chanyeol had reacted, almost immediately grabbing Baekhyun by his arms and pulling him down till he sat on Chanyeol's lap, told Baekhyun that Chanyeol too wanted this as much as he did.

He did not know if he should be happy about it or be sad. Even though he was glad his feelings were clear, he also knew it was a path he would never take.

_"Who will want to have you Baekhyun"_

Even if it was a dream in which Ho Jun had said these words, it was a clear reflection of reality. Once Chanyeol knew about him, there was no way he would continue loving him.

But that was not all. Baekhyun knew Chanyeol deserved a love that could heal him. He deserved someone who was worth loving. But Baekhyun thought differently about himself. Was Baekhyun worth loving? He hardly thought he was even worth living anymore. Chanyeol deserved someone who could put all his pieces together and make him whole again. How would that ever be Baekhyun when he was so broken himself?

 


	44. Chapter 44

Chanyeol was still trying to come to terms with what had happened. Baekhyun had barged into his room and kissed him. Just like that. No explanations given. Although Chanyeol had submitted to the kiss almost immediately, he couldn't help but feel uneasy about his own feelings.

He did not know what the kiss meant. Baekhyun had been so unpredictable to Chanyeol from the very first time they had met that Chanyeol did not even know if this was Baekhyun actually doing what he wanted to or if he was just trying to mess with Chanyeol's brain.

He knew he shouldn't take the kiss seriously. His brain told him it wasn't serious. But the actual problem was his heart that went crazy everytime he thought of Baekhyun.

It was not even a surprise to Chanyeol anymore than Baekhyun would avoid him after the kiss they had shared. 

 

 

 

 

On the second day after the kiss, Chanyeol walked into the changing room after soccer practice. Everyone had retired earlier than him and he had decided to play some more before going back. The lights were off when Chanyeol went inside. The only source of illumination was the faint glow of the halogen shining brightly out in the field.  And Suddenly, Chanyeol found Baekhyun walking out of the room.

Baekhyun froze at his sight.

Chanyeol didn't take his eyes off the smaller. Somehow, even in the visible darkness, Baekhyun looked more stunning than ever.

Suddenly Chanyeol was seeing him in a different light altogether. There was something different about him that Chanyeol couldn't put his finger on.

Chanyeol walked closer to him and Baekhyun took a step back. 

"What are you doing here?" Chanyeol asked.

"I... I... Xiumin forgot his bag so he asked me to come get it" Baekhyun held the bag up. 

Chanyeol took one more step forward and almost immediately Baekhyun took one back.

The room was relatively empty except for the two of them. The night was warmer than previous ones and Chanyeol was beginning to feel that it was getting warmer. 

Chanyeol could hear Baekhyun holding his breath. He could feel it like he felt the rays of the sun on his skin.

He took one more step towards Baekhyun. 

As Baekhyun took one back, he ran into the lockers and suddenly the breath he was holding was released. 

Chanyeol walked closer and stood in front of Baekhyun. 

The little space between them was electrified with their mad hunger to touch each other. 

"Why have you been avoiding me?" Chanyeol asked, looking straight into Baekhyun's eyes.

Baekhyun said nothing.

"How long will you keep avoiding me Baekhyun?"

Chanyeol's voice was soft. There was no rage, no accusation, no judgement in them.

Baekhyun did not know what to say. He did not know when his feelings towards Chanyeol would stop for him to stop avoiding him. He did not know  _if_ his feelings for Chanyeol would ever stop.

So he stayed silent. 

Chanyeol could not understand why Baekhyun had built walls around himself. He wanted to break them so bad, but Baekhyun never gave him a chance. Baekhyun did not even let anyone try to climb them. Not even himself.

"Did I... Did I do something wrong?" Chanyeol asked. "Did I hurt you? If I did I am sorry Baekhyun"

"No" Baekhyun said almost immediately. How was it that it was Baekhyun who was at fault here and yet it was Chanyeol taking all the blames and apologising for things he didn't do. 

"What is it then?" Chanyeol asked but Baekhyun closed his eyes, thinking if he looked at Chanyeol any longer, he might be able to see the pain Baekhyun was hiding. 

The silence continued. Baekhyun couldn't tell Chanyeol the truth, but he didn't want to lie to him either. So to him, silence was the most comforting response. 

When Baekhyun did not reply to him Chanyeol did not know what else to do to get through to him. He could see Baekhyun was hurting for some reason and looking at him pained Chanyeol's heart. Baekhyun was hurting alone, he was choosing to keep being hurt himself, absorbing all the pain and not letting anyone know what he was going through. And it was killing Chanyeol to watching him like this.

But what else could he do? He would never force Baekhyun to say things he didn't want to, he would never use his own emotions to draw Baekhyun's out. He literally had nothing left to offer anymore.

His hopes were dead. He had wanted to save Baekhyun, to protect him. But how was he supposed to do that if he didn't know what Baekhyun needed protection against. Why wouldn't he give Chanyeol a chance to show him that not everyone disappoints? Why wouldn't he just accept Chanyeol in his life? 

Chanyeol found no other way to let Baekhyun trust him.

So he gave up.

Having nothing left to say, Chanyeol turned around, hoping the steps he took away from Baekhyun would stop the ache he felt in his heart. Praying that Baekhyun would find someone he can depend on, even if it wasn't Chanyeol. As long as Baekhyun would have someone to be with, Chanyeol would be okay with it. He would smile a little more, knowing that Baekhyun was happy, even if he wouldn't be there to see it. Chanyeol would live a better life, knowing that Baekhyun was living his, even if they weren't in each other's lives anymore. Chanyeol knew that he would breathe more freely once he knew Baekhyun was not caged by his demons anymore, even if Chanyeol wasn't the one to chase them away. 

And so, Chanyeol took the heaviest first step away from Baekhyun. 

Just as he was about to walk away in all his finality, a hand grabbed him by his wrist, stopping him from walking any further.

Chanyeol turned to see Baekhyun looking at him with bewailing eyes.

It was then that Chanyeol knew what was so different about Baekhyun that he wasn't able to figure out earlier.

It was his eyes. It was the way he looked at Chanyeol. Somehow it had changed. His gaze was softer now, more accepting. But they also mounted ocean of sorrows that Baekhyun was so desperate to hide. 

Baekhyun was still looking at Chanyeol when a drop of tear escaped his eyes, trailing down his flawless face. But Chanyeol did not let it fall. He caught the droplet like it was his own life he was saving. 

He then brushed his thumb on Baekhyun's cheeks, erasing all traces of the the pain that had just been released. 

Taking Baekhyun's face in his hands, Chanyeol stared at the beautiful orbs that were somehow looking for a savior.

The shadows on Baekhyun's face were hiding the feelings that had come alive upon Chanyeol's touch. His heart was beating faster with each passing moment. Chanyeol was so close to him that he could feel raw madness pulsating from his skin.

He reached down and brushed his lips on Baekhyun's gaped ones like Chanyeol had been parched and deprived of water, and Baekhyun's lips were there to end the torture. The moment their lips met, Baekhyun felt the power of two galaxies colliding, like stars falling apart, like the world was beginning to spin faster.

And so Baekhyun clung to Chanyeol, like Chanyeol's strong hands would make the world stop. And Baekhyun clung hard, as if afraid of how his knees would give out if not for Chanyeol. Baekhyun felt the warmth of a thousand suns, as if he had been cold all his life.

It was only later that he realised that the warmth that he felt was Chanyeol's that intensified in the presence of Baekhyun. 

He gave Chanyeol free access and the latter explored the universe in that moment. Chanyeol trailed his hand along Baekhyun's waist while deepening the kiss and Baekhyun felt the intensity of electricity coursing through his veins.

Chanyeol could not understand what he was feeling. Baekhyun's lips on his were ravenous than ever. His swift movements inside Chanyeol's maw were evoking emotions Chanyeol wasn't even sure he was capable of feeling. He felt aware and he felt like he had just been discovered after being lost for ages. Baekhyun's fingers that trailed on Chanyeol's nape, were making him wild and yet he had never been so satiated in his life, ever.

Not even stopping to breathe, Baekhyun matched Chanyeol's yearning with the same intensity. When Chanyeol went down to his neck, slightly tasting the soft skin with his tongue, Baekhyun bit into Chanyeol's shoulder, afraid that he might otherwise cry Chanyeol's name out, loud enough for the heavens to hear.

Chanyeol was amazed by everything that was happening. Baekhyun did not stop, he did not back away. In fact, he gave Chanyeol everything that he had to offer. Chanyeol found himself sinking more and more into the wonder called Baekhyun.

Every touch felt new to him. Every reaction Baekhyun gave, felt like it was happening for the first time. Chanyeol felt a deep hunger inside of him that was entangled in never before found peace. What was Baekhyun doing to him? How had he never felt like this before?

Baekhyun's fingers lightly traced the exposed skin on Chanyeol's arm and the latter gave out a moaning shudder like he had been touched by something divine.

Chanyeol felt a sense of awakening, like all his senses had been set on fire. Baekhyun was doing this to him. And he loved it. He loved every part of it. He loved every part of Baekhyun. And in that moment, he realised his true feelings. 

"Don't deprive me of yourself Baekhyun" Chanyeol said through the heavy breathing. "I feel suffocated when you do that"

Baekhyun did not say anything, instead, he cupped Chanyeol's face and kissed him like the world was about to end. 

 

 

 

 

They sat with their backs resting on the lockers and Baekhyun's head rested on Chanyeol shoulders. Chanyeol had taken Baekhyun hand and locked their fingers together. He smiled at how small and beautiful Baekhyun's hands were against his own big, rough ones. 

There were many things about that night that Chanyeol wasn't sure of. But he was sure what this kiss meant to him. The suspicions he had been having for quite sometime now, were finally confirmed. It wasn't guilt he felt towards Baekhyun that made him want to protect him. It wasn't the way he had misunderstood Baekhyun. The kiss that had left Chanyeol breathless and wanting more, wanting to keep holding on to Baekhyun, told him that the feeling he had for Baekhyun was love. 

"Baekhyun" Chanyeol suddenly said, breaking the silence that was drenched in familiar comfort.

Baekhyun tilted his head to look into Chanyeol's doe shaped eyes.

"I love you" Chanyeol softly let out.

Chanyeol did not know what he was expecting but he was not expecting what happened next.

Baekhyun suddenly became stiff and pulled his hand away from Chanyeol.

"Don't ever say that again" Baekhyun said and walked away, leaving Chanyeol in the stillness of the night, all alone. 

 

 


	45. Chapter 45

Chanyeol walked to the cafeteria for dinner, smiling. He was hurt by what Baekhyun had said, but more than that he was happy. Despite everything Baekhyun had said, Chanyeol still had hopes. Baekhyun never said he didn't love Chanyeol back, or even worse, to never show him his face again. It was a huge improvement in the dynamics of their relationship, if one could call it that, and it made Chanyeol very ecstatic. 

"What's with you?" Kyungsoo asked when he saw Chanyeol standing in front of them all, with a wide smile on his face. 

Chanyeol let out a deep breath. He panned his eyes around the table and everyone was sitting there, enjoying their meals. All except Baekhyun. 

"I have an announcement to make" Chanyeol said through beaming teeth and everyone's attention turned towards him.

Chanyeol couldn't help give out a nervous laughter.

"What are you? A 13 year old girl who's just got to meet her idol?" Chen yelled. "Just spill so that we can go back to eating"

Clearing his throat, Chanyeol looked at everyone through eyes that were sparkling.

"I am in love with Baekhyun". With that he closed his eyes and spread his arms open like Baekhyun would run into them.

SILENCE. No one responded.

"Act surprised" Kai whispered and suddenly the murmur started.

"Oh no how is this possible?" Kyungsoo said with a poker face.

"Chanyeol you're kidding" Luhan said with almost the same expression.

"Wow I never thought I would see something like this before the world ends" Chen passively let out as he was stabbing his food which he loved doing for some reason.

"This is fresh news" Kai said with an awkward smile.

"Chanyeol I had never taken you to be a man who would settle down. I am shocked" Kris said and he was not even looking at Chanyeol. It sounded more like an angry grunt he made to himself.

Suho simply smiled at how silly everyone was being.

Chanyeol opened one eye to stare at them all and let every reaction sink in.

"Wait... you all knew?" he asked in shock and everyone denied, awkwardly shaking their heads accompanied by a couple of shrugs.

"Fuck" Chanyeol said. "Am I the only one who didn't know?"

Between calling him a dimwit, which Chanyeol was sure came from Kyungsoo and a few nods, Chanyeol realised how stupid he had actually been.

"Did you tell Baekhyun?" Xiumin asked.

"Do you think I would tell you guys before I told him?"

"What was his reaction?" Sehun asked. He had been most worried about Baekhyun.

"Initially I thought he would kill me but then he didn't exactly reject me so that's good I guess"

Everyone shook their head at how thick Chanyeol actually was.

"What did he say exactly?" Suho asked.

"He said..." Chanyeol began, trying to imitate Baekhyun's voice,  _'Don't ever say that again'_ "

Kai face-palmed himself.

"Do you even know what rejection means?" he asked, unable to believe Chanyeol's stupidity.

Chanyeol raised an eyebrow at them. "Do you guys know Baekhyun like I do?"

And just like that everyone became silent. There was no argument that could top this because ultimately, at the end of the day, it was only Chanyeol who knew Baekhyun for who he was.

All this while, Tao and Yixing sat at the end of the table trying to put pieces together.

"Do you think B is Baekhyun and C is Chanyeol?" Yixing asked a little suspiciously.

Tao thought about it for a moment. "Nah, I don't think so. It's too obvious. Baekhyun isn't that stupid"

 

 

 

 

When Baekhyun woke up the next morning, a strong fragrance hit his nose. He opened his eyes to find his room filled with assortments of flowers. Every inch was covered and the room looked like a garden.

"Your boyfriend did this" Yixing said, sitting on his bed, trying to find a way to get down and walk to the washroom.

"My what?" Baekhyun asked, thinking he had misheard what Yixing said.

"Boyfriend" came a voice from the door and Baekhyun found Chanyeol standing there.

"You're very smart Yixing" Chanyeol said and Yixing smiled happily.

"He's not my boyfriend" Baekhyun said, turning to Yixing.

Yixing was not paying attention anymore, he was engrossed in trying to land his feet on the ground without hurting any flower.

"You're right" Chanyeol said, turning to Baekhyun. "I'm not your boyfriend, yet. But you're mine"

Baekhyun closed his eyes in annoyance. "That's not how it works"

"Of course it does. It's my life. I get to choose who my boyfriend is. And I choose you"

Chanyeol was smiling his rare happy smile that made Baekhyun forget his worries for once.

"You can't just choose anyone to be your boyfriend, they have to agree"

"Oh you will. Give me three days and you will admit to being my boyfriend"

"Just get out" Baekhyun sighed. It was too early in the morning to be arguing with this idiot.

Chanyeol did not move but kept staring at Baekhyun who looked hypnotising in his just-out-of-bed look.

"Do you like it?" Chanyeol asked. "I didn't know your favorite ones so I bought them all"

"Do you think this is a fucking jungle?" Baekhyun asked, making his voice as rude as possible but it didn't bother Chanyeol.

"It might as well be" Chanyeol replied. "Because you make me wild" he finished off with a wink.

Baekhyun fought all urges in his body to not smile at what Chanyeol had just said.

"That was so fucking cheesy man" Yixing laughed. "And so embarrassing"

Chanyeol's eyes left Baekhyun for a moment that gave Baekhyun the opportunity to smile a little before his insides would explodes. Baekhyun had to admit, even in his most embarrassing moment, Chanyeol was so contagiously cute.

"Shut the fuck up Yixing or I will make you".

Yixing immediately shut up.

Chanyeol then turned to Baekhyun who still had a stone face, but Chanyeol could tell it had softened a little.

"Just get the fuck out Park Chanyeol" Baekhyun said in a serious tone.

"Fine" Chanyeol got up and walked out of the room. But then he suddenly came back and peeped through the door once again.

"I love you" he blurted and Baekhyun threw his pillow at him before Chanyeol closed the door again and ran off.

After Chanyeol was gone, Baekhyun sunk back into his bed.

If he had already softened so much on the first day, he wondered what would happen at the end of 3 days like Chanyeol had said.

He knew he should not give in. It was for Chanyeol's benefit that he stay as far away from Baekhyun as possible. And thus he knew he had to do something to stop him.

 

 

 

 

During the first lecture, their Social Science teacher, Mr. Kwang was busy writing notes on the board. Once he was done, he started explaining the notes to the students when suddenly he went silent and stood with eyes starkly wide like he was looking at a ghost.

Everyone looked up from their notes to Mr. Kwang and found him staring at something at the end of the class.

They all followed his gaze and found that he was looking at Chanyeol.

"Mr. Park" Mr. Kwang said.

Baekhyun who was busy in thoughts and hadn't noticed the sudden disruption in class turned towards Chanyeol when he heard his name. And to his utter amazement, Chanyeol was not sleeping in the class like he always did. He face, Baekhyun saw that Chanyeol, with his chin rested on his hand, was looking straight at Baekhyun. In fact, to his utter amazement, Baekhyun saw that Chanyeol, with his chin rested on his hand, was looking straight at Baekhyun.

For a few seconds, everyone in the classed looked from Chanyeol to Baekhyun and then back at Chanyeol again.

Being awake in class was a miracle to everyone who had ever known the giant.

"Mr. Park" Mr. Kwang said again. "Are you okay?"

Chanyeol did not look at him, he continued to stare at Baekhyun with a smile. 

"No" he softly said, still holding his gaze on the boy he was crazy about. "I'm just in love"

The moment he said that, the entire class started cheering and hooting.

Baekhyun turned away from Chanyeol and buried his face in his hand in deep embarrassment.

 _Why don't you fucking print it in the national newspaper you moron,_ Baekhyun thought like he would never resurface from this ever again.

 

 

 

 

All three lectures before lunch were the same. Even though the class had got used to the teacher's reaction by the second lecture, it was still amusing and each time the teacher stopped and stared at the miracle of Chanyeol being awake in the class, the students yelled and cheered at him.

 

 

 

 

As soon as the bell for lunch rang, Baekhyun immediately got up and ran towards the cafeteria. He found some of his friends there and positioned himself in the corner seat near Chen.

Chen was whining about failing biology when he suddenly turned silent. Baekhyun looked up to find Chanyeol giving Chen a death glare. Without a word, Chen picked up his food tray and got up.

"Where are you going?" Baekhyun asked.

"I'm afraid your boyfriend will murder me in my sleep if I continue sitting next to you." he said and sat down in the farthest corner of the two joined tables.

"He's not my boyfriend" Baekhyun yelled loud enough for the entire school to hear.

The moment Chen left, Chanyeol's frown turned into an immediate smile and for a second Baekhyun though the demon that was possessing Chanyeol had left. He walked over and pushed Baekhyun to pin him between himself and Kyungsoo.

Baekhyun sighed at the childish behavior this giant was exhibiting.

He turned away from Chanyeol and started talking to Kyungsoo, Suho and Kris who were discussing plans for the holiday that was approaching.

"We're all going together this time, right?" Kris asked looking at Suho who smiled with a nod.

"I am not sure, I might have to go home" Kyungsoo said.

Baekhyun turned to Kyungsoo. "Oh come on Soo you know it ..." suddenly he stopped talking.

Baekhyun turned his head and saw that Chanyeol had picked up food from the tray and placed it in front of Baekhyun's mouth for him to eat.

Chanyeol closed his eyes and nodded at Baekhyun, indicating him to take a bite.

"I can feed myself Park Chanyeol" Baekhyun roared.

"I can feed you too" Chanyeol replied with a smile.

Everyone was now staring at Baekhyun. They were sure than Chanyeol would get smacked any moment now.

"Stop getting on my nerves" Baekhyun muttered through his gritted teeth, trying to control the anger that was rising.

"I will" Chanyeol said. "Once I am done feeding you. I promise"

No one at the table had expected what happened next.

Baekhyun sighed and then opened his mouth for Chanyeol to push the food inside. Then Baekhyun went back to discussing about the holiday, silently taking note of the open mouths and widened eyes on the table that were focused on the both of them.

Soon they got on to discussing where they would go.

Kris suggested his vacation home again but since the summer had officially started, they wanted to chill.

"How about the beach?" Baekhyun suggested.

Chanyeol picked up another piece of food and hovered it in front of Baekhyun. He stared at Chanyeol for a moment before silently opening his mouth.

"Beach sounds nice" Tao said. "It will be relaxing"

They all agreed to the beach and by then, Chanyeol had fed Baekhyun five times and earned himself a deadly stare before all five.

But the sixth time surprised him. In the middle of the conversation, Baekhyun absentmindedly opened his mouth, waiting for Chanyeol to feed him.

The sight gave Chanyeol such tremendous joy that he felt like he owned the world.

Chanyeol pursed his lips, to try and contain the excitement that was boiling inside of him and Baekhyun saw the dimple that had somehow become his favorite thing in the world.

Watching Chanyeol become so happy over something as trivial as this was a wonderful sight to witness. He was like a 5 year old who thought Santa was real and was excited to find gifts under the tree on Christmas.

But Santa wasn't real, was he?

Baekhyun admitted that everything Chanyeol did was soaring his heart too. No one had ever done these things for him before. Everything from the flowers in the room to the declaration of love in front of everyone to even feeding him in the cafeteria with all eyes on them, made Baekhyun understand that Chanyeol wasn't afraid of love and he wasn't afraid to show love.

And it killed Baekhyun from the inside that he was being so cold and distant to him. But he reminded himself of every good thing that Chanyeol deserved. He reminded himself of the life Chanyeol would lead in the future, full of happiness. And Baekhyun knew he had no space in it.

"That's enough" Baekhyun said suddenly and everyone turned to him when they sensed the coldness in his voice.

"Now keep your promise and stop bothering me. I have had enough for one day" Baekhyun said and got up, leaving everyone else there.

When Baekhyun was gone, Chanyeol smiled.

"Are you fucking stupid?" Chen asked. "To still be smiling like that after what Baekhyun said?"

"You're the stupid one" Chanyeol said, still smiling. Everyone on the table was confused at Chanyeol's reaction.

"Baekhyun said he's had enough for one day. Today. Which means I can continue tomorrow" he laughed and everyone shook their head.

"When they say love makes you stupid, this is what they mean" Kyungsoo said and turned towards Kai. "If I ever behave like this, shoot me please"

Chanyeol didn't hear what Kyungsoo said, he didn't care what anyone had to say. He knew Baekhyun more than anyone did and he knew that tomorrow Baekhyun would give him another chance.

Baekhyun was starting to open up, was starting to accept Chanyeol. It was slow but it was progress none the less. And just that was enough to keep Chanyeol happy for the rest of his life.

 

 

 

 

When they were done with their lunch, Chanyeol sat in his room with everyone else except Baekhyun.

"Any progress?" Chanyeol asked.

Almost everyone shook their heads. They had found nothing on Ho Jun.

Then Sehun spoke up.

"I analysed the photos, from what I could see, the place looks like a basement. It is likely that the police found nothing because they had no idea where to look"

"What do we do then?" Xiumin asked. "I looked at Baekhyun's file but except for him stabbing his uncle, nothing else was mentioned"

"There is only one way" Kyungsoo spoke up. "One of us has to go there to see what's inside"

The mere idea of stepping into that shady bar brought feelings of nausea to Chanyeol. But his own feelings were insignificant here. There was something big going on and Chanyeol had to find out what it was.

"I'll go" he said immediately.

"We'll come with" Sehun and Luhan said.

"Us too" the rest of them added.

Chanyeol shook his head. "If there are many of us, we might draw attention."

"We'll take one car. Mine as all the glasses are tinted black. Suho, Kyungsoo and Sehun can come with me. Everyone will wait in the car while I go inside"

"When are we doing this?" Kyungsoo asked. 

"As soon as possible" Chanyeol replied.

"Let's go tonight then" Sehun suggested. "And let's go prepared"

Everyone nodded and left the room to prep themselves for the events of the night.

 

 

 

 

After dinner, everyone as planned, gathered in Chanyeol's room again.

Sehun had packed his brass knuckles while Suho said his punches were enough. And Chanyeol knew they were. He had almost been knocked out by a single punch by Suho when they had fought at the cafeteria.

To Chanyeol, it seemed like an event that happened aged ago.

Everyone was ready but Kyungsoo was nowhere to be seen.

Just then, he entered with what looked like a wooden box.

"What's that?" Sehun asked.

"My weapons" Kyungsoo replied as he flung the box open.

Everyone stared in amazement. And also in fear.

The box had various knives, nunchucks with sharp spokes, a baseball bat that had razor sharp nails protruding from all sides and...

"Fuck" Chanyeol yelled. "Is that a hand grenade?"

Suddenly everyone took a step back from both Kyungsoo and the box.

Kyungsoo laughed. "It's a dummy. Doesn't work but scares the shit out of people. Just like now"

Chanyeol stared at this small boy in disbelief. "Remind me never to cross you in my life" he said and everyone packed all the things they needed.

In no time, they proceeded into the dead of the night, praying desperately to find something concrete.  

 

 


	46. Chapter 46

The drive to Hidden Desirez, Ho Jun's shady bar, was quicker than they expected. There was very light traffic on road so they sped off.

Once they reached the place, Chanyeol asked Suho to take over the wheels and to keep the car running and prepared to be off in case something happened.

"Ready?" Chanyeol asked and everyone nodded.

Chanyeol was about to walk away when Kyungsoo stopped him.

"Wait" he said and Chanyeol turned back. 

Kyungsoo took a knife out of his pocket and handed it to Chanyeol.

"Use this in case anything happens"

Chanyeol stared at the knife and then back at Kyungsoo.

"Fuck Kyungsoo I am not going on a manhunt" 

"Just keep it okay" Kyungsoo said with a worried face. "Just for safety reasons"

Chanyeol saw the concern on his face and was deeply overwhelmed. So he took the knife and hid it in the socks he was wearing.

He then looked at everyone one final time.

"If I am not out in 15 mins, call Kris's brother. None of you are allowed to follow me. Just call the police. Okay?"

Even tough they didn't agree with half of it, they all nodded and Chanyeol finally proceeded towards the bar.  
  
  
  


 

 

Chanyeol was met with two guards at the door that demanded his ID. Once he presented it to them, they let him in. He had turned 19 a few months ago and there was no way they would stop him as long as he was of legal drinking age.

When Chanyeol swung the door open, he was suddenly met with the strange smell of alcohol mixed with cigarettes and sweat. 

He almost puked. The bar was shadier on the inside. The walls had paint peeling off. The tables collected dust and the interior was just cheap. It looked like a place where happiness came to die.

Chanyeol took a step forward and he realised he was overdressed for the place. While everyone there wore clothes that were hardly worth wearing, Chanyeol stood with spotless attire.

Someone else must have noticed him too because he was approached by some unknown man there.

"First time here?" he asked and Chanyeol turned to find a tall man in black suit standing there.

Chanyeol nodded nervously.

The man looked at Chanyeol from head to toe as if assessing him intently and then smiled.

"I am Cha Won Seok" he said, extending his hand. "I am the manager here"

Chanyeol took his hand and smiled back. "I am Kim Woo Bin" he lied. For some reason he wasn;t able to come up with another name.

"Kim Woo Bin as in the actor?" the manager asked and Chanyeol shook his head.

"No. Just the same name"

Cha Won Seok nodded. "Come with me. I have a better place for you"

Chanyeol did not understand at first but then remembered the basement and wondered if he would be taken there. So he nodded and followed.

Behind the bar counter was a small door that was guarded by six security guards which made Chanyeol a little apprehensive about going in. 

_You're doing it for Baekhyun. Just get it over with._

This one thought was enough motivation Chanyeol needed.

When the door was opened, Chanyeol stepped into what looked like a very dark room but it was just the hallway leading to another room.

Soon he stood outside another door and he could hear faint music coming from inside. When Cha Won Seok opened the door, Chanyeol could not believe what he was saw.

The room was dark, lit by neon lights that ran along the ceiling. There were leather couches and small privates booths made for guests. This place looked nothing like the what Chanyeol had seen outside. This place looked like a high-end club where all the rich people liked to hang out.

Chanyeol was directed to the bar counter and Chanyeol was about to follow him when his eyes fell on a man in his fifties sitting in one of the private booths. He looked very familiar. He was surrounded with two women who were almost naked. 

Chanyeol would have stood and stared at him longer but Cha Won Seok called him to the bar.

"What do you want to drink?" he asked.

Chanyeol hesitated. "Umm I don't think I should. I was just passing by and saw this place so I wanted to check it out"

Cha Won Seok nodded his head, as if this wasn't the first time he had heard that excuse.

"Well then have fun as long as you're here" the manager said and Chanyeol wondered why he was being so nice.

"Do you mind if I look around?" Chanyeol asked.

Cha Won Seok was silent for a moment but then smiled. "Not at all. Go ahead"

Chanyeol nodded and got up, trying to take a look passively and secretly trying to find the access to the basement.

He went on the opposite side of the bar area and nonchalantly started looking at the booths to see if there was passageway behind them. But it was dark and even if there was a door behind any of the booth, he wouldn't be able to see it.

He suddenly passed the same man he had tried to recognise earlier. He saw the man laughing and suddenly he remembered something.

The laugh. He had heard it before. He had seen it before. On TV.

It belonged to a famous Congressman on the city Mr. Hong Jun Nam.

Chanyeol couldn't believe it. He was famous for being a role model among people. He was known for his charities, his policies to change outdated laws, his policies against women discrimination in the society and everyone loved him because despite his hard work, he was a dedicated husband and father.

And what Chanyeol was looking at was complete opposite of that. The man was groping and being extra touchy with the two women who sat on the opposite side of him and were half his age.

As Chanyeol walked further, he saw a few more politicians he had seen on TV and he was left shocked at what was happening. 

One thing that Chanyeol became sure of, was that Ho Jun was an influential man and it would not be easy to take him down.

Suddenly his eyes fell on one of the booths at the end of the room. It seemed like it was reserved. The velvet ropes outside the booth made sure no one entered it without permission.

Just then Chanyeol saw a waiter pass by and stopped him.

"Excuse me" Chanyeol said and the boy stopped.

"Yes Sir, what can I help you with?" the waiter asked.

Chanyeol pointed to the corner "Is that booth reserved?"

"Yes Sir, guests are never allowed in that booth"

"Guests?" Chanyeol asked in confusion. "So who is it reserved for?"

"For Mr. Ho Jun, the owner. Only he goes in there"

With that the waiter left.

Chanyeol looked at the velvet ropes and was tempted to take them away to go in. He walked closer.

He noticed that this booth was a little different from the rest. It was bigger, and unlike others, this booth had curtains that were not drawn currently so Chanyeol was able to see it on the inside.

Somehow he was sure he would find something there.

He was about to walk further when a hand rested on his shoulder.

"Sorry Mr. Woo Bin". It was the manager Cha Won Seok. "You can't go there. It is a restricted area"

"I am sorry" Chanyeol said suddenly. "I was just curious"

Cha Won Seok smiled. "It's understandable. We sometimes even have customers who demand we host them in there but we are not allowed to do that under any circumstances"

Chanyeol nodded in agreement and then checked his watch. The fifteen minutes he had promised to his friends would expire in 2 minutes.

"I better get going" he said and Cha Won Seok showed him the way out without any hassle.

Once Chanyeol was at the door, he turned around to thank the manager.

Cha Won Seok took his hand.

"Please do come again and bring your friends" he said with that smile again that Chanyeol had begun to think was fake now. "But make sure they're of legal age. We don't want any troubles"

"One question" Chanyeol said before turning away. "What are your working hours?"

"We usually start at 5 in the evening and go till 5 in the morning" Cha Won Seok said.

"So if I wish to visit before 5 with my friends, there will be no one here?"

Cha Won Seok nodded. "That's right. I suggest you come anytime after 5. That's the official operational hours"

Chanyeol thanked him once again Cha Won Seok turned around and went inside.  
  


 

 

 

 

When Chanyeol reached the car, Suho was on call.

"Never mind, he just came back" he spoke and hung up.

Chanyeol realised it must have been more than 15 minutes.

All three of them turned to look at Chanyeol as he opened the door and sat on the passenger's seat.

"Go" he said with a suddenly urgency in his voice which Suho immediately registered and started driving, away from the place.

"What happened?" Kyungsoo asked after a few minutes had passed and Chanyeol looked like he'd puke any moment.

Chanyeol told them about what he saw inside, who he saw inside and then he told them of the booth that he suspected was the entrance to the basement.

"We need to come back" Sehun said determinedly and others nodded.

"We'll come tomorrow before they open" Suho suggested and a mutual agreement was formed. With that, they drove back to the school.  
  
  
  
  
  


Inside a dark room, Ho Jun sat with his eyes on the screens that contained footage from the CCTV cameras across his bar.

A man ran up to him and stood by his side.

"You're late Oh Seong" Ho Jun said.

"I am sorry" Oh Seong said. "There was a new case and my officers were dispatched so I couldn't leave the station"

"I don't need to hear your excuses" Ho Jun's voice was low but threatening. "You've helped me a lot so far, but I see you're starting to slack"

The man looked frightened. "It's not like that" he said. "The the officers are very smart these days, I have to make sure I don't leave a trail"

"That reminds me" Ho Jun said, pointing at the frozen screen in front of him. "Do you know who this is?"

Oh Seong looked at the screen to find a familiar face. He had seen the photo of the boy at the police station. He had seen his ID submitted as a witness.

"That's Park Chanyeol" Oh Seong said. "The boy who filed a complaint against you"

Ho Jun smiled. 

"What is he doing here?" Oh Seong asked. "There is no reason for him to suspect you after I told you to get rid of evidences"

"That's what I find amusing" Ho Jun said. "Why is this boy so interested in me?"

He then turned to Oh Seong. "Find out everything you can about him and report to me tomorrow"

Oh Seong nodded and left immediately, leaving Ho Jun to stare at the boy who was starting to become trouble for him.

 

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun was getting restless. He hadn't seen Chanyeol since lunch and he had actually kept his promise. He had kept it word and stayed away from Baekhyun like Baekhyun wanted him to. Then why was Chanyeol's absence bothering him so much?

He tried to sleep but wasn't able to so he decided to take a walk out in the garden and get some fresh air. Chanyeol was messing with his brain and he needed to clear his head.

 

 

 

 

 

Suho stopped the car outside the dorm and everyone got out.

"You all can go in" Chanyeol said. "I'll park the car and be right back"

Suho and Kyungsoo nodded.

Sehun turned to Chanyeol. "I'll accompany you"

Two of them went in and Chanyeol drove the car to the parking which wasn't far from the dorm.

Once they were out and were walking towards the building, Chanyeol stopped.

"Sehun" he said and Sehun turned to look at him.

"Yeah?"

"You know Baekhyun well, don't you?"

Sehun didn't know where the question came from.

"I wouldn't say I know him well. But yea... I guess I do a little. Why?"

"I just don't know if I am doing the right thing chasing after him. I don't know if he will accept me"

Sehun sighed and went closer to Chanyeol. He then placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Love isn't easy Chanyeol. If it were easy, you'd find everyone living a happy life"

Chanyeol did not understand what Sehun meant. 

"It doesn't matter if Baekhyun accepts you or not, it doesn't matter if he will ever love you back. What matters is the love you feel. Even if it is one sided, give it all you have"

Sehun saw Chanyeol was begging to understand his words.

"You did not start loving him with the expectation of him loving you back. It was your decision, so it doesn't matter what Baekhyun feels. As long as you pour all your love into it, he will definitely accept you, even if it takes some time"

Chanyeol nodded. Sehun was right. Chanyeol never had any expectations and he shouldn't now as well.

"But I don't know what else to do" Chanyeol confessed. "I told him I'd make him admit to being my boyfriend in 3 days and I only have two left"

Sehun thought about it for a moment and tried to recollect what he knew about Baekhyun from his memory.

"I know he likes music" Sehun said. "But I don't know the kind of music he likes. I saw a couple of posters in his room back then but I didn't recognise any of them"

Chanyeol's eyes widened. "You were in his room? What were you doing?"

Sehun laughed. "Relax Chanyeol. Nothing happened"

"I mean something was supposed to happen but it didn't" Sehun mocked.

Chanyeol looked at him with murderous eyes.

"What?" he asked. "What was supposed to happen?" Chanyeol could feel something ugly rising from the pit from his stomach to his throat.

"Do you want to know what else he likes or not?" Sehun asked. "I am sleepy and I do not have any reason to entertain you right now"

Chanyeol scowled. Knowing about what to do now was more important than the past.

"Fine. What else?"

"Umm... he likes to travel, he likes to read books, he likes to collect things such as comics, manga and action figures oh and he loves the stars"

This was good. Chanyeol was sure he could make use of at least one of these things.

"And" Sehun continued. "If none of these work, then you can go in for the final kill"

"What's that?" Chanyeol was confused again.

"You know, big gesture of love, romantic declaration, public proposal, doing something larger than life, kiss him like they do in the movies"

Chanyeol shook his head. "I don't know any of these things. I only watch action movies"

Sehun sighed. "Wait, I'll show you" he said.

"First, you'll need to make sure you're in public where your chances of rejection may go down significantly"

"Wait" Chanyeol said. "You think he will reject me?"

"That's not the point" Sehun replied. "Now focus"

Chanyeol was still not sure what Sehun meant but he complied.

"So imagine I'm you and you're Baekhyun" Sehun said and walked a bit away from Chanyeol.

"I have all these feelings inside of me that I can't control. So when I see you, I mean when you see Baekhyun, you rush to him in a hurry"

Chanyeol nodded and Sehun rushed to him.

"Then you grab him by the wrist and pull in near till you can feel his breath" he said, doing exactly that and pulling Chanyeol close to him till there was hardly any distance between the two of them.

"Then you place your hand on the back of his waist and push him down till he is reclining a little" Sehun followed on his words and pushed Chanyeol down till his torso was resting on Sehun's hand. And then he leaned in.

"Finally, you go in for the ki...

"Chanyeol?" A voice echoed in the open and both Sehun and Chanyeol turned to look who it was.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Baekhyun asked standing not far from them.

The moment Baekhyun asked the question, Sehun released Chanyeol from his hand and the latter fell on the concrete ground, on his back.

"Baekhyun" Chanyeol said.

"Is this what you've been doing all this time that you were missing?" Baekhyun asked, he sounded mad. Why did he sound mad?

"No Bae..." 

Baekhyun put his hand up. "Whatever shitty explanations you have, I am not interested"

He gave Sehun a very strange threatening glare that made the hair on the latter's neck stand up.

Then Baekhyun turned to Chanyeol. "Fuck you" he said and turned to walk away in anger. He did not understand why this made him angry. Why was he bothered about what Chanyeol was doing. Didn't he want him to be happy? Didn't he know it was not him who would make him happy? Then why was this pinching him so much? 

Baekhyun had walked a few paces when Chanyeol caught up to him and stopped him by grabbing his hand.

Baekhyun slowly turned around to find Chanyeol breathing heavily.

The night was dark but the moon was especially bright that night. It made Chanyeol's skin glow.

"Baekhyun" Chanyeol said, "It's not what it looked like. I and Sehun... "

"You and Sehun what? What were you doing exactly? Is this what you meant when you said 3 days? That you'd start fooling around with someone else's boyfriend the moment I gave you a cold shoulder?"

"Bae..." Chanyeol began to speak but then stopped and suddenly started smiling.

As was his usual habit, he tucked his lips under his teeth and smiled, showing off the million dollar dent on his cheeks that Baekhyun could kill for.

Baekhyun turned to look at his smiling face and didn't understand what was happening.

"Why the fuck are you smiling?" Baekhyun asked.

Chanyeol did not answer and continued to smile when Baekhyun kicked him in the shin, making him squirm in pain.

"That's for smiling for no reason" he said and turned around knowing very well that the main reason he had kicked Chanyeol was entirely different.

Chanyeol hopped on one leg to catch up to Baekhyun again and stopped him.

"What now?" Baekhyun asked.

"Trust me, I and Sehun were not doing anything" he said, rubbing his shin. Baekhyun's heart moved a little thinking maybe he had hit him too hard. 

"Give this bullshit to someone else Park Chanyeol. Do you think I am blind? One day you pretend like I am all that matters and then you go AWOL only to be found to have been almost kissing Sehun?"

Baekhyun didn't know why he was shouting but for some reason Chanyeol was smiling like an idiot again.

"Why the fuck do you keep smiling you fucktard?" Baekhyun asked, rage resonating from every word he spoke.

"Because you're jealous" Chanyeol said through his beaming face.

Baekhyun turned silent. He had nothing to say to this. He stood still for a minute, staring at the giant in front of him, understanding Chanyeol's words. Understanding his own behavior. Chanyeol was so vocal about everything. Every feeling, every emotion was always out there in the open for him. 

After a moment of silence, Baekhyun turned his eyes away from Chanyeol.

"As if" he scoffed. Baekhyun was looking at everything except Chanyeol. He was afraid if he made eye contact, the truth would come out.

"Why would I be jealous?" Baekhyun suddenly said, collecting his thoughts.

"Were you not?" Chanyeol asked.

Baekhyun shook his head.

"I was just worried about Luhan. Him and Sehun are in a strong relationship and I don't want you ruining it"

For some reason, Baekhyun was still not looking at him.

"Are you sure that is all?" Chanyeol asked.

Baekhyun nodded again and this time, faced him. "Of course. What else could it be?"

Chanyeol shrugged. "Well then I guess I better go back. Sehun must be waiting. We have to finish what we started".

With that Chanyeol turned around and began to walk away when Baekhyun's hand grabbed his.

He did not say a word but in the next moment, Chanyeol found himself being dragged by Baekhyun through the garden and into the dorm building.

 _What am I doing? Why am I doing this?_  Baekhyun thought all the way.

"Go to your room" Baekhyun said in a grave tone once they were inside the dorm.

"You're not my father" Chanyeol teased and earned himself a deadly stare.

"Did you hear what I said?" Baekhyun asked.

Chanyeol shook his head. "Sehun's waiti..."

Baekhyun did not let Chanyeol finish what he wanted to say.

Before he could complete his words, Baekhyun pulled him by his collar and kissed him for a full minute before letting him go.

"Sehun's what?" Baekhyun asked after he let Chanyeol go who was staring at blank space and still seemed fazed by what had just happened.

He turned to Baekhyun. "I don't even know what a Sehun is" he said.

Baekhyun was fighting the urge to smile but he didn't want to in front of Chanyeol. So he turned around. "Good night Park Chanyeol" he said, walking away from the giant who was still trying to get his heart under control.

"I love you Byun Baekhyun" Chanyeol yelled at the top of his voice, loud enough to wake half the building up.

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun was lying on his bed with mixed feelings. He was happy because of Chanyeol and then he was sad because of what he was doing to Chanyeol. He was giving him hopes when Baekhyun was sure he did not have a future with him.

He cursed himself for being jealous and for giving into temptation so bad. This was not right. What he was doing to Chanyeol was not right.

Just then his phone buzzed. Baekhyun picked it up and saw it was a message from Chanyeol. When he opened it, it was full of heart emojis and kiss emojis and somewhere in the middle was "I love you Baekhyun"

_Are you in fucking middle school?_

Baekhyun decided to type just that along with some knife emojis and a few gun emojis but just as he was about to type, another message popped up and it made Baekhyun shiver.

It was from Taehyuk. Breathing deep and finding the courage within himself, he opened the message.

 **Taehyuk:**   _Baekhyun, I am so sorry for everything I did. I want to apologise and I am ready to do whatever it takes for you to forgive me. I don't know what overcame me Baekhyun but I am very very very sorry for it all. Please meet me once so I can apologise to you and not be the coward I have been over the past few days._

Baekhyun stared at it for a few minutes. He then turned the phone off and went to sleep, forgetting that he was supposed to reply to Chanyeol.

 


	47. Chapter 47

Baekhyun woke up to the smell of something divine.

 _Pancakes_ his mind registered with his eyes still closed

_Coffee._

_Bacon and eggs._

He thought that he was dreaming and actually started analysing if the sense of smell works when you dream. But the smell became stronger and stronger until it was too powerful to know it wasn't a dream.

Suddenly he opened his eye.

As his vision cleared, he saw Chanyeol standing near his bed with a tray in his hand.

"Good morning beautiful" he said with a sparkling smile that was brighter than the sun.

Baekhyun blinked, trying to find a response but before he could, Chanyeol sat on his bed, making Baekhyun scoot back a little.

"I made breakfast" he said and placed the tray on Baekhyun's lap.

The latter stared at the lavish spread in front of him.

The tray had toasted bagels, cream cheese, pancakes, maple syrup, scrambled eggs, fried bacon and coffee. It looked like Chanyeol had planned to feed a small pack of wolves.

"Did you... did you make all this?" Baekhyun asked in surprise because he knew the cafeteria did not have a single one of these things.

Chanyeol nodded.

"For me?" Baekhyun asked and Chanyeol nodded again.

"I wish I had a boyfriend like Chanyeol" Yixing said, walking up to them.

Chanyeol poured the coffee in a mug and handed it over to Baekhyun who took it immediately and smelled the divine smell of the miraculous liquid before sipping it.

To Baekhyun's delight, it was made to perfection. It was bitter but not too much, just the way Baekhyun liked it and he wondered if it was a fluke or had someone told Chanyeol how Baekhyun liked his coffee. But the latter wasn't possible because no one else knew about it.

"Chanyeol is not my boyfriend" Baekhyun said sipping the coffee given by Chanyeol.

"Potaytoh potaatoh" Yixing said, reaching his hand down to pick up a piece of bacon when Chanyeol slapped it.

"These are for Baekhyun" Chanyeol said.

"But I just want some good breakfast" Yixing complained.

"You need to date me to get such breakfast from me" Chanyeol responded with a smug.

"I am ready" Yixing said and Baekhyun choked on his coffee.

"Chanyeol" Yixing said, turning to the giant. "I love you. Date me"

Chanyeol picked up the butter knife from the tray and pointed it to Yixing.

"Get out before I turn this into a murder weapon" he said and Yixing immediately scrammed.

Chanyeol then turned to Baekhyun.

"Did you see that?" he asked.

'What?"

Chanyeol sighed. "Your roommate confessed his love for me before you did."

"Do you see how popular I am?" Chanyeol continued. "Men and women are lining up to date me and yet I have only have eyes for someone who wouldn't even look at me"

He sighed again, over-exaggerating his emotions.

Chanyeol was now busy lathing the bagel with cream cheese.

Baekhyun was staring at Chanyeol through his sips and for some reason, he did not let the cup leave his lips because the mug was hiding how big Baekhyun's smile was.

How many surprises did Chanyeol have up his sleeves? How many times would he melt Baekhyun's heart? Chanyeol had no idea how difficult he was making it for Baekhyun to walk away from all this.

The giant held the toasted bagels up for Baekhyun to eat but the latter hesitated.

"I am not hungry" he said sternly. 

"Do you want me to feed you?" Chanyeol asked.

"No" Baekhyun replied immediately and took the toast from his hand. Silently he started eating.

Chanyeol was watching Baekhyun eat and to him, that was the most satisfying thing he had ever seen in his life.

"Have you eaten?" Baekhyun asked after he was done with the first bagel.

Chanyeol shook his head as he pulled his thumb out to wipe off the cream cheese that was smudged on the side of Baekhyun's lips.

The sudden touch made Baekhyun shudder. But it was a pleasant feeling. 

"I didn't have time" Chanyeol replied.

"Since when have you been making this?" Baekhyun asked.

Chanyeol looked at his watch. "Since 5 in the morning, so 4 hours I guess. I can't cook shit so I had to follow multiple recipes" he said with a smile.

Baekhyun couldn't believe Chanyeol had done this for him.

"Eat" Baekhyun said with a command but Chanyeol shook his head again.

"This is just for you" he replied.

Baekhyun knew he wouldn't listen to him. So he cut up a piece of pancake and placed it in front of Chanyeol's face.

"Eat" he said again. 

"No Baekhyun I ma..."

By then, the pancake had already been stuffed inside of Chanyeol's mouth who looked at Baekhyun with a mixture of awe and love. And shock.

"Chew" Baekhyun commanded next and Chanyeol started chewing, not realising that he wasn't doing it before.

He chewed and he chewed.

"Chanyeol" Baekhyun said. "Swallow for fuck sake"

And Chanyeol did just that. He followed everything Baekhyun said, word to word and he knew that he could do this for the rest of his life.

 

 

 

 

After they were done with the breakfast, it was Chanyeol who spoke up first.

"What are you doing tonight?" he asked.

Baekhyun shrugged. "Nothing" he said. "Why?"

"I have something to show you" Baekhyun could hear the excitement in his voice.

"What is it?" Baekhyun was suspicious of what else Chanyeol was about to do.

"It's a surprise" Chanyeol said, lifting the tray up. "I have to go now"

"Where?" Baekhyun suddenly asked and then cursed himself for being curious about Chanyeol.

The latter smiled. "I have some work outside school today and I guess I'll be back later"

Baekhyun nodded, feeling a little disappointed that he won't see Chanyeol the entire day, but he did not let Chanyeol know that.

"Whatever" he said with a straight face instead.

"Come to my room at 10" Chanyeol said and quickly placed a kiss on Baekhyun's head. He then ran off, afraid that Baekhyun would throw things at him if he stayed any longer.

Baekhyun was about to get up when his phone buzzed.

It was another message from Taehyuk.

**Taehyuk:** _Baekhyun, please just listen to me once. I really want to apologise to you. I don't want anything from you or a second chance. I know what I did was wrong. But even if you can't forgive me, give me a chance to apologise._

Baekhyun immediately deleted the message and went on with whatever he was supposed to do.

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol met Suho, Sehun and Kyungsoo in his room at around 1 in the afternoon. They had planned to visit Ho Jun's bar before it would open again, in hopes of finding whatever they could.

It took them more than an hour to drive to the bar this time. 

"I and Sehun will go in" Chanyeol said once they were parked outside the bar.

"I  will keep a lookout" Kyungsoo added.

Suho pulled out 4 walkie talkies.

"We'll stay connected via this" he said and then took his laptop out from his bag and a pen. 

"Chanyeol" he said turning to him. "Keep this in your pocket"

Suho handed him the pen and switched his laptop on.

"Why do I need a pen?" Chanyeol asked in confusion.

"It's a spycam" Suho said pointing to the top where a small camera was hidden.

"Press it once and it starts recording and press it twice and it will directly send a live feed to my laptop. Unfortunately the recorder isn't working right now so pressing the button twice is the best option. I can always save the live feed on my laptop"

"Where did you even get it?" Kyungsoo asked with a lot of interest.

"I made it" Suho said passively and Chanyeol realised there was so much he didn't know about him. There was so much they didn't know about each other and yet they were all there with the only common thing among them, Baekhyun.

Chanyeol pressed the button twice and immediately the scene from inside the car popped up on Suho's laptop.

Chanyeol nodded, keeping the pen his pocket. He then turned to Sehun and Kyungsoo. Everyone was ready at his command.

"Let's take this bitch down"

 

 

 

 

Breaking in was not difficult. Chanyeol had been doing it since ages and it was one of the many things his parents didn't approve about him.

When Sehun and Chanyeol waked in, they looked around to see if anyone was there. When they found the establishment empty, Chanyeol guided Sehun down the passageway to the room at the end.

"Wow" Sehun said, looking around. "Never thought I'd see something like this inside a place that looks like a slaughterhouse from the outside"

"This way" Chanyeol pointed to the last booth at the end of the room and Sehun followed him.

The curtains were drawn this time so Chanyeol slowly moved them away to reveal a booth that looked like it had recently been used.

Sehun turned his flashlight on and looked at each section of the booth carefully.

There were two leather couches on the two sides of the booth. They looked different from other couches in the room. One table was set in the middle that had white powdery residue on them and two tables were placed against the wall that connected to the couches. On the table on the left, Chanyeol saw empty, used glasses while the table on the right was empty and spotless. Somehow he got the idea that Ho Jun preferred sitting on the right side of the booth.

"Do you see anything?" he asked.

Chanyeol was knocking on the walls  to see if he could hear something hollow. He had expected a door but there was nothing like that there.

He kept knocking until his fingers banged against what seemed like empty space behind.

"There's something here" Chanyeol said and Sehun pointed the flashlight in that direction. The wall was covered with a kaleidoscopic wallpaper.

Chanyeol looked for an entry point or a keyhole he could make use of but there was nothing. He then took the flashlight from Sehun and inspected the wall closely.

In no time, he found what he had been looking for. 

"Yes" he yelled.

"Did you find something?" Sehun asked and Chanyeol asked him to come near and look at what he was looking. 

Soon, Sehun saw it too. The wallpaper on the walls were uneven from the area where Chanyeol had found hollow space.

It was very easy to miss because of the kaleidoscopic pattern. 

Chanyeol then started looking around.

"There is no keyhole to open it so there must be a trigger" he said and Sehun understood. He too started searching the booth for any mechanical function that would open the space.

They searched every corner but nothing was found.

Chanyeol knew Ho Jun was not stupid to just keep the trigger in plain sight. 

But then, what if he was? What if he kept it so plainly hidden, that it was ignored by others because it was so ordinary.

Suddenly Chanyeol's eyes fell on the table on the right. He immediately rushed to run his fingers through each side. But he did not find anything there. 

Frustrated that they were losing precious time, Chanyeol kicked the table in frustration and it moved a little.

A whirring sound filled the air and Chanyeol and Sehun both turned to see that it was coming from the wall. 

In the next moment, a rectangular section of the wall slid open and Chanyeol and Sehun stared at what looked like a vault.

"Fuck" Sehun said, looking at it. It was a digital vault that took a numerical password of four digits to open. "We will never get through"

For some reason, Chanyeol was not worried about this. 

He thought about where it all had started. How they ended up being here. And suddenly he had the answer.

Without hesitation, he placed his finger on the number pad.

"Chanyeol" Sehun said, "Don't. We don't know what might happen if we input the wrong numbers"

But Chanyeol was not listening to him. He knew the answer. And it was making him mad with rage.

Then he input the numbers 0-5-0-6.

And just like that, the vault swung open.

Sehun stared in shock. 

"How... how did you know the code?" he asked.

Chanyeol's hands curled into fists. He hated the fact that he was right. He was hoping, praying to be wrong.

"It's Baekhyun's birthday" he said through gritted teeth. 

In that moment Chanyeol wanted to tear the place apart. He wanted to kill Ho Jun but he controlled himself, reminding himself that Baekhyun was more important and to give Baekhyun the life he deserved, Chanyeol had to take Ho Jun out by following the system.

Without delay, Chanyeol reached into the vault.

The only thing he found was a book. When he took it out and flipped the pages, he realised what it was. 

The ledger contained the list of all of Ho Jun's clients. Clients that were involved in his child pornography business.

Chanyeol knew taking it with him would make Ho Jun suspicious.

"Suho can you hear me? Over" Chanyeol spoke into the walkie talkie.

"Yes I can hear you. Over" Suho said.

"I am turning the live feed on. There is a ledger here that contains all of Ho Jun's clients involved in his disgusting business and I need you save the feed once it's done. Over"

"Copy that. Over and out" Suho ended.

Chanyeol then turned to Sehun. 

"Look around and see if you can find the door to the basement while I send this to Suho"

Sehun nodded and immediately rushed off, leaving Chanyeol to point the pen on the ledger, pager after page.

The ledger was almost full, the were more than a hundred pages and Chanyeol wondered if he would be able to cover it all.

After about twenty minutes, Chanyeol was able to send every page's details to Suho who saved the video immediately.

"Chanyeol" Sehun's voice suddenly echoed from a distance.

Chanyeol placed the ledger back in the vault, closed it and tilted the table properly so as to not leave traces.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I think I found something" Sehun answered.

Just as he heard Sehun's words, Chanyeol ran towards him at the end of the bar counter.

He was about to reach when their walkie talkies buzzed.

"Guys" Kyungsoo said. "Guys get out. RIGHT NOW. The manager is approaching the bar"

Neither of them waited. Sehun and Chanyeol immediately ran towards the exit. They knew getting out of the front door would be a risk so Chanyeol followed the signs that led to the back exit.

Using his lock-picking skills, Chanyeol broke the both of them out immediately.

 

 

 

 

They reached the school a little after 6 in the evening. Chanyeol rushed out of the car because he had planned something grand for Baekhyun for the night and he hadn't even started yet.

When Sehun had told him of the things Baekhyun loved, Chanyeol immediately got stuck on one idea. Chanyeol loved everything about astronomy and stargazing and he was psyched that he and Baekhyun had something in common.

"Luhan" Chanyeol said once he entered his room. "Sleep at your boyfriend's tonight"

"Why?" Luhan asked.

"Do you really need a reason? You think I don't know what you guys do?"

Luhan's face turned red.

"Are you jealous that you have no action in your life?" Luhan retorted.

"Will you go or not?" Chanyeol asked, ignoring the pinching question.

"I will not" Luhan said sternly.

"Fine" Chanyeol said. "I will tell Sehun how you had a crush on Xiumin for 2 years before he rejected you and how you still look at him longingly from time to time"

Luhan eyes shot open. "What?" his began. "I... no... we... what?"

Chanyeol smiled. "Did you think I would not know?"

"He... we... I DON'T LOOK AT HIM IN ANYWAY YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT"

"You did like him for 2 years, didn't you?"

Luhan was trying to find words to say.

"That was age ago. I do not like him now"

"Sehun doesn't have to know that. When I tell him about your history, he will believe what I tell him"

"THERE IS NO HISTORY TO TELL" Luhan yelled.

Chanyeol did not say anything, he just stood there and smiled.

"You're evil" Luhan said before picking up the things he needed and walking out of the room with hate for his roommate growing inside of him.

 

 

 

 

It took Chanyeol a little more than three hours to setup what he wanted Baekhyun to see. He needed one key element for his surprise and Chanyeol spent a good amount of his time running from one place to the other across the city to find it. When he found what he was looking for, he knew Baekhyun would love it.

The setup wasn't very difficult. Chanyeol had decorated his room with fairy lights across the walls and the main item laid on the table, facing the ceiling. Once he was done, Chanyeol closed the door to his room and turned off the main lights. 

When he turned the fairly lights on, his room looked like that from the fairytales. Chanyeol smiled. He was satisfied with his hark work.

But the highlight of the night was something entirely different. The galaxy projector.

For a final test run, Chanyeol drew all the curtains and turned all the lights off, even the tiny ones.

He then walked over to the small machine on his desk and switched it on.

In less than a few seconds, the room's ceiling lit up with colors of blue and green.

Then the stars came out. It looked like he was staring at the galaxy with his naked eyes.

 _There is no way Baekhyun would not admit to being my boyfriend when he sees this_.

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol happily jogged to the cafeteria, content with his plan, knowing that Baekhyun will love it.

He praised himself for the work he had done because he knew once Baekhyun saw it, he would accept him without any questions.

He would tell Baekhyun that he loved him again and this time, he was sure Baekhyun would reply.

Suddenly he felt hungry. It was then that he realised that he hadn't eaten anything since when Baekhyun had fed him.

The idea of having dinner with Baekhyun made him more excited.

Chanyeol was about to step into the cafeteria to sit with Baekhyun and his friends when he suddenly stopped. 

The expressions on his face changed and anger started rising from the pits of his stomach, spreading to every part of his body. 

Every muscle in Chanyeol's body flared up with rage when he saw that standing there with Baekhyun in the cafeteria, was Taehyuk.

Chanyeol did not know what came over him but he did not stop himself from running over to where they were and before anyone could realise what had happened, Chanyeol punched Taehyuk on the face, making blood gush out of his mouth.

His friends, that now consisted of Baekhyun's friends too, rushed over to him to stop him from using his animalistic urges again.

But what stunned Chanyeol was not that his friends were stopping him. What actually stopped him from doing anything further was Baekhyun. He had rushed to Taehyuk to help him up. Baekhyun did not even look at Chanyeol. Instead, he helped Taehyuk and Chanyeol could actually feel the pain from his heart breaking into a million pieces.

"Let's go" Baekhyun said, holding Taehyuk up and walking away with him.

"Baekhyun" Chanyeol said trying for one last time. Maybe Baekhyun would hear the pain in his voice and stop. Maybe he will have pity on him and stay instead of going with Taehyuk.

Baekhyun turned around and a ray of hope rose inside of Chanyeol.

"Don't go with him"

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol, finally.

"That's for me to decide" he said and turned back, walking away.

"Baekhyun" Chanyeol said and Baekhyun halted. But this time, he did not turn around.

"If you go with him, we are through" Chanyeol couldn't believe what escaped his lips. He immediately wanted to take it back. He wanted to apologise and tell Baekhyun that he didn't mean it. He wanted to beg Baekhyun to choose him over Taehyuk. But before he could say anything, Baekhyun spoke.

"You and I were never a WE. We were never together for us to be through" he said, face still turned away from Chanyeol and with these final words, Baekhyun walked away.

Chanyeol who stood there, watching Baekhyun leave, couldn't even shed a tear anymore. It was as if just like Baekhyun, his feelings had betrayed him too.

 


	48. Chapter 48

***A FEW MINUTES AGO***

Baekhyun was sitting with his friends at the cafeteria having dinner and discussing assignments that were due next week. Although he was fully immersed in the conversation, a fluttering sensation at the pit of his stomach made it impossible for him to keep focus for long.

He kept checking his watch.

Chanyeol had asked him to come to his room at 10 and there was only half an hour left.

He was growing excited by the minute and had to fight with himself to not show it. He still had no clue what Chanyeol had planned for him and he had to admit that he was nervous to find out.

He didn't understand his feelings though. He was already in love with Chanyeol, it was not like anything he did would make him fall for the giant any further. What Baekhyun was actually afraid of, was confessing his feelings because Chanyeol was making it very difficult for Baekhyun to keep it all inside now.

When Chanyeol had yelled that he loved Baekhyun the previous night, Baekhyun wanted to shout that he loved him too, possibly more. When Chanyeol had kissed him on the forehead after the breakfast in the morning, Baekhyun had to stop himself from grabbing Chanyeol's hand and pulling him back for a kiss before he left.

Every time he looked at Chanyeol, the latter looked so tempting that Baekhyun could barely keep it together. He had to constantly remind himself of why he was doing this, of why Chanyeol deserved better and why Baekhyun was not right for him.

Even then, there were moments when Baekhyun let everything go and wondered how his life would be with Chanyeol. Baekhyun imagined scenarios where he and Chanyeol would go to the movies together, hold each other's hands through their walks in the park, kiss each other randomly in public. He imagined Chanyeol making him happy and him giving Chanyeol the love that was long overdue.

Of late Baekhyun felt that the reason his heart had started beating again, was only because of Chanyeol.

But it all was make-believe because his mind, the logically superior aspect, or so Baekhyun thought, kept telling him that Chanyeol was better off without him. He had many problems in his life as it was and having Baekhyun as an addition would be like getting onto Titanic, knowing the ship would sink, possibly killing everyone on board.

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun was done with his dinner and was about to get up when an unpleasantly familiar voice called his name.

"Baekhyun"

Taehyuk was standing in the cafeteria, a few feet away from where Baekhyun and his friends were.

A shiver ran down Baekhyun's spine. All his friends turned to see Taehyuk and out of instinct they all got up to beat the shit out of him.

"Stop" Baekhyun said, looking at each of them. "I'll handle it"

"But Baekhyun..." Chen said immediately, protesting Baekhyun's decisions.

Baekhyun put his hand up, stopping Chen from saying anything further.

"I said I'll handle it"

He got up and slowly walked towards Taehyuk.

"What do you want?" Baekhyun asked, memories of the night flooding his mind.

 _Keep it together Baekhyun_ , he told himself.

"You haven't returned any of my messages" Taehyuk replied.

"What do you want?" Baekhyun asked again.

"Can we talk? In private?"

Baekhyun wasn't sure if he should but ever since that night, the doors to Baekhyun's nightmares had opened up which he desperately wanted to close. Even though every muscle in his body was telling him to kill Taehyuk, Baekhyun knew he was better than that. Even if he would never be good enough for Chanyeol, he would still be less broken than he was before if only he tried to close those doors that haunted him.

And maybe this was the first step. 

Baekhyun saw that all of his friends were staring at him in concern. Baekhyun looked at them and nodded in assurance.

"I'll be right back" he said and turned to Taehyuk. "Let's go"

But just as he was about to walk away, someone came charging towards Taehyuk and punched him.

_Chanyeol._

Chanyeol looked mad with rage. Baekhyun was sure he would kill Taehyuk if he could. And that was what Baekhyun was afraid of. They were in school and Chanyeol was uncontrollable. If he did something rash, he would be expelled immediately. But Chanyeol did not look like he would calm down.

Even ten people trying to calm him down were about to fail in trying to tame him.

This was why Baekhyun wanted Chanyeol to be away from him. This is what Baekhyun brought out in Chanyeol. The man would do anything to protect him and Baekhyun was afraid one day he might lose himself in doing that. Baekhyun could not be saved, he was far too gone. But Chanyeol was still redeemable. He was still worth saving.

Baekhyun was reminded of why Chanyeol had turned out this way. In the end, Baekhyun blamed himself. Just like Taehyuk had told him that night, it was all Baekhyun's fault.

If Baekhyun had not kissed Chanyeol and started this chain of events, things wouldn't have taken such an ugly turn. Chanyeol would still go on living his life like Baekhyun was someone he hated. He wouldn't spiral down this destructive path that Baekhyun's life was. And as long Baekhyun was in Chanyeol's life, these things would keep happening until one day, Chanyeol would resent Baekhyun for turning him into something he was not.

It was then that Baekhyun finally made a decision.

Baekhyun literally felt his heart break when he walked over to Taehyuk, knowing what it would do to Chanyeol to see him side with him. And he was right.

He picked Taehyuk up and proceeded to walk away but Chanyeol's voice stopped him.

"Baekhyun"

The way Chanyeol called out his name made him weak. He turned around.  _One last time._

Baekhyun could see the pain Chanyeol was going through. He could feel it in his bones, as if breaking Chanyeol's heart was ripping Baekhyun's heart into shreds too.

"Don't go with him" Chanyeol said and Baekhyun felt a pang in his heart.

_Please don't do this Chanyeol. Please don't make it harder than it already is._

"That's for me to decide" Baekhyun said, trying to keep his voice from breaking down. He then turned around again, praying for Chanyeol to just give up.

"Baekhyun" he heard Chanyeol say one more time, but this time, his voice was stronger than before, more determined.

Even then, Baekhyun did not have the strength to face him so he didn't turn around. He stood still when Chanyeol called his name.

"If you go with him, we are through" Baekhyun heard Chanyeol say.

In that moment, even though all Baekhyun wanted was for Chanyeol to leave him, hearing the words out shattered his world. The pain in his heart was so strong that he felt like someone was cutting into his skin while he was wide awake. Baekhyun was afraid if he turned around and saw Chanyeol's face, he would forget every thing and run to him, embrace him and tell him how sorry he was and how much he loved Chanyeol back.

But he reminded himself of why he was doing this.  _For Chanyeol. For his betterment._

And so Baekhyun said the words he knew would break Chanyeol completely.

"You and I were never a WE. We were never together for us to be through" he said and walked away, unable to face the repercussions of what he had just said.

 

 

 

 

"Why are you here?" Baekhyun asked once he was alone with Taehyuk.

"I wanted to apologise Baekhyun" Taehyuk said with his head hung low.

Baekhyun breathed in a little deeper. He knew he couldn't fall apart and give Taehyuk the satisfaction to watch what he had done to Baekhyun, how he had made his life crumble into pieces.

"What makes you think I will forgive you?"

"Don't" Taehyuk said, "You don't have to forgive me, I understand if you can't, if you won't. I just want to apologise. That's all"

_Was this another game he's playing?_

"Are you done?" Baekhyun asked and started to walk away.

"Baekhyun" Taehyuk stopped him.

"I know you love Chanyeol" he said and Baekhyun stopped on this tracks.

He turned around with anger in his eyes.

"Don't you dare say his name with that filthy mouth of yours." Baekhyun was fuming with anger upon the sudden mention of Chanyeol's name.

Taehyuk looked at Baekhyun and went closer.

"I am sorry" he said. "I just want to say one final thing. Please hear me out"

Baekhyun was beginning to feel his insides burn but he held it in.

Taehyuk got his cue from Baekhyun's silence.

"I thought about my actions a lot, and I regret what I did so I will not give you excuses about why I did it. I just want to apologise and tell you that I want to see you be happy"

This was confusing to Baekhyun now. Was all of this another trap?

"I know you love him Baekhyun. I know I was a fool to not see it and to think that I could have you. But don't hold yourself back like you did with me. Can't you see it's killing him?"

Baekhyun looked at him in surprise.

"Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do? After what you did to me, what you were about to do to me?"

Taehyuk's expressions changed. Baekhyun could see the guilt surface on his face.

"I am aware of my actions and I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you if I have to"

Baekhyun took a deep breath in.

"If you want to make up to me, stay the fuck away from me and Chanyeol and don't ever show up in front of us because the next time, it won't be Chanyeol you will face. It will be me and what I will do to you will be a thousand times worse than what Chanyeol did"

With that, Baekhyun walked away.

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol dragged his feet to his room, not finding the will to exist but he felt so exposed, so vulnerable that he kept going, hoping things would be easier when he was hiding away from the world.

When he entered his room, he found the fairy lights on.

He had set them up for Baekhyun.

Suddenly the name enraged him. His memories pierced his heart like thorns.

Unable to control his own feelings, he tore the lights away from the walls. His eyes then fell on the galaxy projector he had bought for Baekhyun.

Impulsively he picked it up and threw it across the room that was in complete darkness.

The projector switched on when it fell on the floor and suddenly, the room was alive with starts that danced everywhere.

The sight was mesmerising. It was something that was meant for Baekhyun to see.

Chanyeol's eyes traced the walls and the ceiling that were painted in clustered brightness

These stars reminded him of Baekhyun. They all looked so close but were far beyond his reach, just like Baekhyun was. And no matter how high Chanyeol jumped, he would only catch the emptiness of the air.

With this thought, he sunk to the floor and let the tears roll out.

 

 

 

 

Next morning Chanyeol woke up to a loud bang on the door.

He realised he had cried himself to sleep on the floor beside the bed.

"Chanyeol" Luhan's voice called out through the loud bangs. "Chanyeol open the door"

"Leave me alone" Chanyeol said and got up to slide himself into his bed, going to sleep again.

 

 

 

 

At around noon, a soft knock on the door woke him up.

"I'm keeping the lunch out here." It was Kyungsoo's voice. "Eat when you feel like it"

Chanyeol did not move. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep again.

 

 

 

 

Another knock. Chanyeol thought he would never have peace when he realised he has slept through the day.

"Yah why didn't you eat your lunch?" Chen's voice pierced through the door. "I am keeping your dinner out here. You better eat or I will shove it down your throat"

Chanyeol did not feel like getting up. Sleeping was better. When he was not awake, he did not think of Baekhyun. Sleeping was peaceful. It was less painful.

And so, Chanyeol closed his eyes again.

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol did not leave his bed, or his room. Everyone was growing worried as days went by. The food and water would remain outside, untouched.

This went on for three more days until Luhan had enough.

On the fourth day, Luhan barged into Baekhyu's room.

"Yah Baekhyun" Luhan said, entering with a loud bang.

Baekhyun was lying on his bed, contemplating his actions. For the past four days, the only thing that revolved in his mind were Taehyuk's words.

_"I know you love him Baekhyun... Don't hold yourself back like you did with me. Can't you see it's killing him?"_

Was it so evident that even Taehyuk could see what Chanyeol was going through or had Baekhyun programmed himself to not see something that everyone else did?

For the past four days, he controlled his feet from going to find Chanyeol and tell him what he felt. Everyday, he fought battles within himself over what he should do.

He was startled when he heard Luhan's voice. He immediately got up, thinking something had happened to Chanyeol.

"What?" he asked, "What happened?"

Luhan was panting from running all the way to Baekhyun's room.

"Chanyeol's broken and it's your fault" he said through heavy breaths. "Go fix him"

Baekhyun did not understand what Luhan said so he looked at him confusingly.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"He has locked himself in the room and hasn't eaten anything . The food we keep outside his room is returned untouched every time. This has been going on since the past 4 days. He is practically killing himself"

Baekhyun's eyes widened when he heard Luhan.

"Move" he said, pushing Luhan away and running out of his room.

Baekhyun ran through the hallways and stairs to reach Chanyeol's room.

In an urgency, he knocked on the door.

There was no response.

"Chanyeol" Baekhyun said, hoping he would open when he heard his voice. "Chanyeol open up"

Baekhyun waited, but there was no response again. A sudden alarm rose inside of Baekhyun. What if something had happened to Chanyeol inside?

Sensing the fear rising inside of him, Baekhyun could feel the tension building throughout his body. He turned the doorknob but it didn't move. The room was locked. He knew waiting was futile so he pushed the door but it did not budge. Baekhyun grew worried as seconds passed.

As adrenaline kicked in, Baekhyun struck the door with his foot and it caved in one blow. He did not understand where the sudden strength came from.

When he broke the door down and walked in, he saw there was no one inside. Chanyeol's room was completely empty.

Baekhyun took his phone out and called Chanyeol. The call went through and Baekhyun waited but Chanyeol never picked up.

Baekhyun was about to exit when he heard Sehun's voice as it got closer and closer.

"Why isn't he picking up?" Sehun asked.

"Do you think he went there alone?" Baekhyun recognised it was Suho's voice. They were talking and heading towards Chanyeol's room

"I don't know. The text only says  _'I'm going to Ho Jun's bar. Don't worry, everything's fine. I will be back soon'_ "

Baekhyun's heart stopped. Did he hear right? Did they just say Ho Jun's name?

What was Chanyeol doing with Ho Jun? How did they know each other? How were Suho and Sehun involved in this? What was happening?

Suddenly Baekhyun forgot to breathe.

He clasped his throat, trying to reach for air. It was like his lungs had collapsed. Falling to the ground, Baekhyun tried to draw a breath but he felt like someone had placed a heavy stone on his chest to stop him from pulling air in.

A familiar, dreadful feeling engulfed Baekhyun, the same punch to the gut, the same feeling of giving into darkness.

Just then Sehun and Suho walked in.

"Baekhyun" Sehun yelled as they ran towards him.

"Baekhyun are you all right?" Suho asked.

Baekhyun started to rise. Breathing was no longer a struggle. Things were okay. Baekhyun was calm because the real Baekhyun was safe. The other Baekhyun, the  _Dark_ Baekhyun that had just emerged, made sure the real Baekhyun was protected now.

"What happened?" Sehun asked.

Baekhyun did not reply to his question. "Where is Chanyeol?" he asked instead.

Both Sehun and Suho looked a little guilty.

"Where is he?" Baekhyun asked again but he got no response. He knew there was only one way of finding the truth.

"How does he know Ho Jun?"

They suddenly looked at Baekhyun in surprise but still couldn't find words.

"TELL ME" Baekhyun yelled as loud as he could.

Baekhyun prayed in that moment. He prayed that whatever he was thinking, was not be true. He prayed that there was an explanation to why Chanyeol was meeting Ho Jun.

And then Suho began.

He told Baekhyun everything from the time Chanyeol had first heard Baekhyun yell Ho Jun's name in his nightmare to the things they found under his bed to Chanyeol's visit to the bar and finally about the break in.

Baekhyun couldn't believe what he was hearing. Chanyeol had been constantly putting himself in danger because of Baekhyun and the he did not even know about it.

"We need to save him" Baekhyun said with a lot of urgency in his voice.

"What do you mean?" Sehun asked, " He sent a message a few minutes ago saying he is fine and will be back soon"

Baekhyun turned to Sehun with pleading eyes. "If Chanyeol is meeting Ho Jun, he is anything but fine."

 


	49. Chapter 49

Sehun, Baekhyun, Kyungsoo and Suho were all driving to Ho Jun's bar where Chanyeol had texted he was.

Suho had his laptop drawn out and was trying to trace Chanyeol's location.

"Can you actually do that?" Baekhyun asked.

Suho nodded. "I installed a tracking software on his phone before we came her for the first time. Somehow I had a feeling he would do something reckless"

Baekhyun nodded, silently thanking him for doing this.

"How much longer will this take?" Baekhyun asked, looking at Sehun who was in the passenger's seat. 

"15 more minutes" Sehun replied.

"Kyungsoo" Baekhyun then turned to the designated driver. "Can you drive a little faster?"

Baekhyun's voice was about to break.

He nodded, stepping on the gas and speeding up.

"Got it" Suho announced and Baekhyun looked at his screen that flashed a green dot.

"His location is still Hidden Desirez"

 

 

 

 

They reached sooner than expected time. It was nearly 12 in the afternoon so they knew there would be no one inside, unless Chanyeol was being kept at the basement.

"Let's go" Suho said and they all broke in by breaking the door apart.

"Chanyeol" Baekhyun yelled once they were inside. "Chanyeol where are you?"

The only thing that returned were the echoes of his own voice.

"Follow me" Sehun said and directed them to the private area of the bar where Sehun had suspected the entrance of basement to be. But before, he needed to check something.

He quickly ran to the booth at the end and tilted the table till the vault was visible.

He then punched the code, which was Baekhyun's birthday. Baekhyun saw him feeding the numbers to the vault but did not say anything. It was like he was feeling guilty that Ho Jun had chosen his birthday as the password.

When the vault opened, Sehun searched the insides thoroughly. 

"It's not here" Sehun said and everyone except Baekhyun understood. 

"What's not here?" Baekhyun asked.

Sehun hesitated for a moment. But he knew they were wasting precious time. 

"Ho Jun's list of clients involved in child pornography" he finally said in a low voice.

Baekhyun felt sick to his stomach. Ho Jun was hiding this despicable thing in a vault protected by his birthday and it made Baekhyun feel like dirt. 

"This is why he must have wanted to meet Chanyeol" Suho said. 

"But that idiot didn't have to do it alone" Kyungsoo retorted.

"Come this way" Sehun said and took them to the back of the bar area where he suspected the door to the basement was.

"There is a door at the end that's almost invisible but I found it that day"

Sehun carefully traced his fingers along the wall, trying to figure out a way to open it. Just like the vault, there was no keyhole or handle.

None of them could see what Sehun was seeing but then Baekhyun noticed a tiny piece of torn wallpaper on the wall. When he traced the line from top to bottom, his fingers would feel the tiny but empty space.

"Move" he said and Sehun moved away. Baekhyun ran his hands through every corner of his suspected door. There was nothing. Baekhyun had only one last option. To try and break the door using his strength.

Placing his foot in the middle Baekhyun hit the said door with all his strength.

And then Baekhyun understood. It was a pressure sensor door that opened when you applied pressure to it and Baekhyun had done just that.

The door immediately pushed forward before sliding to the left, opening a secret passageway for them.

Without wasting anymore time, they all went it.

The room inside was large and empty. It smelled like stale air. Things were strange because they had expected at least something to be there.

They walked further, not wanting to stop When Baekhyun's eyes fell on what looked like another door. "There" he said, pointing towards the end of the room.

Sehun opened the door and to they frightful delight, they found a flight of stairs going down.

All four of them descended to the floor below.

The moment they reached downstairs, Sehun turned his flashlight on and what everyone saw, shocked them.

Under the ground, Ho Jun had managed to make something that looked like a five star hotel. It was huge and completely well-maintained. From where they were standing, there was a restaurant area on the left, a huge waiting area on the right, two lobby areas and two reception areas. It looked fully functional. Except that it was empty.

They were standing near what seemed like the main reception with a huge sign 'HIDDEN DESIREZ' written on top.

"There's no one here" Sehun called out to Kyungsoo and Suho.

Suho immediately checked his laptop.

"But Chanyeol's location shows right about this place"

They were all puzzled. 

"Let's pan out" Baekhyun said and Sehun and Kyungsoo nodded. They ran from the lobby to the room that were stretched out across the basement. 

One after the other each of them went through each room until they reached the end of it and nothing was found.

"Chanyeol's not here" Baekhyun said, coming back to where Suho was.

Suho did not know what else to do. His equipment still showed Chanyeol's location right where they were standing. 

Suddenly Suho's laptop started buzzing as Sehun and Kyungsoo resurfaced.

They all looked at it and a red dot flashed at the bottom right corner of the screen.

"Is that...?" Kyungsoo began to ask but Suho started nodding before he could.

"What?" Baekhyun asked. "What is it?"

Suho turned to Baekhyun and smiled a little.

"Chanyeol's live feed"

Suho clicked the flashing red dot and an ugly face showed up on screen, scaring the rest of them.

"You find whatever you can from this while I look around" Kyungsoo said and immediately left to find clues.

"Nice pen" the man's voice echoed through the speakers just before he placed it in his shirt's pocket.

When the man placed the pen on his pocket, the entire scene from the room came alive on the screen before them and what they saw through the cam, made their blood run cold.

Chanyeol sat on the floor, kneeling down, his hands tied behind his back and his face all beaten and bloody.

Baekhyun almost let out a cry.

"Chanyeol" he said, looking at the screen that seemed like would be the death of him.

Suho was frantically typing onto the keyboard trying to do something and Baekhyun begged him to try and find where Chanyeol is.

"Please" Baekhyun said looking at Suho. "Please find him" his voice resonating between desperation and worry.

"Don't worry Baek, I am trying to find the exact location"

"How long will it take?" Sehun asked.

"Can't say" Suho confessed. "The connection isn't too strong"

He then went on to punch the keys in like he was doing.

"Park Chanyeol" suddenly a voice rang through the air.

Baekhyun recognised that voice. Chills ran down this spine.

It was Ho Jun's. His voice brought back memories Baekhyun was desperate to forget. He closed his eyes. Trying to calm himself down. He reminded himself that real Baekhyun was safe as long as he was here to protect him.

"I see you found my journal" Ho Jun said. From where the man with the pen was standing, Ho Jun and Chanyeol were clearly visible to them on the screen.

"Yeah so?" Chanyeol asked, trying to free himself of the rope they had tied him in.

"You're a brave one, aren't you?" Ho Jun asked with a smug. "We'll see how long that lasts"

He flicked his hand to one of the people on his right and he ran towards Chanyeol with a wooden plank in his hand.

Without a warning, he smashed the timber on Chanyeol's back, making him fall on his face.

"Noooo" Baekhyun yelled, looking at the screen. He hated that he didn't know where Chanyeol was. He would kill Ho Jun the moment he found out.

Chanyeol did not give up. He got up again and sat on his knees.

"Impressive" Ho Jun said.

Chanyeol did not acknowledge him. He turned to the man who had his pen. He had seen him press the top two times after he had snatched it from him and Chanyeol prayed the feed was going live on Suho's laptop.

"Why am I here?" Chanyeol asked Ho Jun.

The latter relaxed on his chair a little, reclining to the back before speaking.

"I did some research on you" he said. "You and Baekhyun are in the same school, aren't you?"

Chanyeol's eyes widened. He knew Baekhyun must not be dragged into this under any circumstances.

"How do you know him?" Chanyeol asked, testing the waters.

"He and I share..." Ho Jun said, smiling a little, "... a special kind of relationship"

The moment Baekhyun heard it, he wanted to puke his guts out. The words gave him nausea.

"What kind of relationship?" Chanyeol asked. 

Ho Jun walked up to Chanyeol and grabbed him by the hair, tilting his face back a little.

"A very close one" he whispered into Chanyeol's ears before retreating to his chair again.

A jolting feeling of rage ran through Chanyeol's body. He wanted to smash Ho Jun's face in.

"So?" Chanyeol said, calming himself down. "I do not give a shit what you are to him. I barely even know the guy"

Chanyeol's words surprised Ho Jun and Chanyeol internally celebrated the fact that he now had the upper hand.

Even Baekhyun was surprised.

"So all this that you've been doing isn't because of him?"

"Him?" Chanyeol asked. "Why would it be because of him? I hate that guy. I hate his mere existence"

"Do you now?" Ho Jun asked and Chanyeol nodded.

Ho Jun smiled suddenly and Chanyeol did not understand why.

He took something out of his pocket and threw it at Chanyeol's face.

They were photographs. As they spread across the floor, Chanyeol saw his own photo, kissing Baekhyun.

 _Fuck_ ,  _the school has CCTVs._

Ho Jun approached Chanyeol again and pulled his head up by his hair.

"It doesn't look like hatred to me"

For some reason, Chanyeol could hear the hate that was dripping from Ho Jun's words and he did not understand why. Was it for him, was it for Baekhyun?

"Now answer me" he said, sitting back on his chair. "Why do you want my ledger?"

"Tell me what you did to Baekhyun" Chanyeol instead said and Ho Jun gave out a very disgusting smile.

"I will" he said. "Right before I kill you so that you die with the regret of not being able to save him"

Baekhyun was getting impatient. "Why is this taking so much time?" he asked Suho who was concentrated on feeding his laptop codes.

"Guys" Kyungsoo's voice pierced the empty space.

Baekhyun and Sehun turned to look at him.

"What?" Sehun asked.

"I think I found something" he said.

"What is it?" Sehun started to get up.

"An elevator" Kyungsoo answered.

Sehun sat back down. "What is weird with finding an elevator?" he asked.

Baekhyun turned to look at Kyungsoo and then at others.

"Why is there an elevator in the basement?" Baekhyun asked. It didn't make sense.

"Because..." Suho said, drawing his eyes away from the screen and looking at them. "Because Chanyeol is 90 feet below"

 

 

 

 

Everyone looked at Suho blankly.

"The pen can also act as an altimeter when programmed properly" Suho began. "According to the data, they're 90 feet below"

"That's..." Sehun found this situation unbelievable. "That's almost 9 floors down. Has Ho Jun created a 10 storey hotel underground?"

None of them said anything.

"Let's go guys" Kyungsoo said, pointing towards the elevator.

"No" Baekhyun suddenly said.

Everyone turned to look at him in surprise.

"Only I will go" Baekhyun said in a determined voice.

"Baekhyun that's stupid" Suho said.

Baekhyun shook his head. "This is about me, he wants me at the end. And I will give him exactly what he wants"

"You'll get both of you killed" Kyungsoo protested.

"I won't" Baekhyun said turning to Suho. "I have a plan"

 

 

 

 

Once Baekhyun was done discussing what he planned, the rest of them looked a little assured, but not completely.

"Baekhyun" Sehun said, finding the courage to ask what he had always meant to.

"What did Ho Jun do to you?"

Baekhyun thought about it for a moment. It had been so many years since he had harbored the secret alone. Without telling anyone what he went through. The people standing in front of him had risked their life for him, how could he keep this away from them any longer?

"He..." Baekhyun said but his voice cracked. "He raped me"

A piercing silence fell through the air for a moment but then, something unexpected happened.

Baekhyun suddenly clutched his abdomen and squirmed, falling to the floor.

"Baekhyun" everyone said, rushing to him. "Are you okay?"

For a moment the pain felt like it would knock Baekhyun out, but he held tight.

Soon his breathing returned normal and he finally got up.

He looked at everyone and their concerned faced. 

"I guess you officially met my other personality, the other Baekhyun" he said, dusting off the dirt from his jeans casually like it was nothing.

Everyone was shocked. They had never witnessed a transformation before.

"Which... which one are you?" Suho asked, clearing his throat.

"The real one" Baekhyun said. "Now, let's get this done"

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun took the elevator and pressed the last button. The elevator clinked and then started going down.

All throughout the way, he wondered what make him come out and why the other Baekhyun decided to vanish? Was it because he had finally admitted to what had happened? Was it because the other Baekhyun thought now that it was out in the open, he didn't have anything to fear?

All these questions were unanswered to him.

Before he could think further, the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Baekhyun stepped out. This floor was also a replica of the floor above, except this had collected miles of dust and hadn't been used at all. The air was thinner here and the place smelled of dampness.

Baekhyun kept walking, tracing his steps from the floor above to locate where Chanyeol was.

 

 

 

 

In no time, he found a door and open it slightly. It was as large as the lobby area above but here, in the middle of the room, was Chanyeol who was not kneeling down anymore but was now on the ground with his face down.

Baekhyun scanned the place. There were a total of 8 guards across the room with Ho Jun sitting in the middle, facing Chanyeol.

Baekhyun prayed to whoever would listen and hoped Suho would execute the plan like he wanted him to.

With one heavy breath, he walked in.

The sudden footsteps that echoed inside the room startled everyone. All eyes turned towards him and then finally Ho Jun's eyes found Baekhyun.

Baekhyun was not looking at anyone except Chanyeol.

"Baekhyun" Ho Jun suddenly said, standing up from his chair. The name from the man's mouth made Baekhyun feel like a million insects were crawling under his skin.

But he did not shudder. He continued to walk straight till he was standing between Chanyeol and Ho Jun, right in the view of the live feed.

"Let him go" Baekhyun said and upon hearing his voice, Chanyeol opened his eyes.

"Baek... Baekhyun" he said through a bloody mouth. Baekhyun wanted to scream, he wanted to run to Chanyeol and hold him. He wanted to tell him that he would be safe. He wanted to kill everyone that laid a hand on Chanyeol,  _his_  Chanyeol.

"Baekhyun p... please r... run away, please" Chanyeol said, struggling with his words.

Baekhyun turned his eyes away from him.

"Let him go" he said again, looking at Ho Jun instead.

Chanyeol's gaze travelled to Ho Jun and he saw his features softened when he looked at Baekhyun. Chanyeol wanted to claw his eyes out.

"I can't" Ho Jun said. "He knows too much"

Baekhyun smiled suddenly and both Ho Jun and Chanyeol were shocked.

"He doesn't have proof" Baekhyun said. "He can't do anything without proof"

Ho Jun smiled back.

"Fine" he said. "I will let him go"

Baekhyun was taken aback. Was this really so easy? Or was Ho Jun playing games?

"Under one condition" he said with a satisfactory smile and Baekhyun closed his eyes. He knew what was coming. 

"What?" Baekhyun asked, still wanting to confirm his suspicion.

"I'll let him go in exchange for you"

"Noooooo" Chanyeol yelled immediately, trying to force his body to get up. He managed to reach halfway when the a heavy piece of timber struck his back again, forcing him to throw up blood before falling to the floor.

Watching Chanyeol get hit made Baekhyun feel like his heart was being squeezed to death but this was not the time to display his emotions.

Baekhyun knew what Ho Jun wanted. He would never give himself to him but saving Chanyeol was more important.

"Fine" Baekhyun said. "You can have me. But let him go"

"Baekhyun" Chanyeol cried. "What are you doing?"

Baekhyun turned to him with coldness in his eyes.

"Chanyeol you have been nothing but a fool" Baekhyun said, looking at him. "You had no business getting into this because it's not your concern. I am not your concern"

Chanyeol was fighting the tears that were building up inside of him. He refused to believe what Baekhyun was saying.

"I don't know how else I should make you understand" Baekhyun continued, "I do not love you. I never will. So get the fuck out when you have a chance"

Ho Jun looked at Baekhyun and smiled. 

What happened next was not expected by either Baekhyun or Chanyeol.

Ho Jun walked up to Baekhyun rose his hand, striking it across Baekhyun face.

"Don't you dare touch him" Chanyeol yelled, trying to elevate himself up to rush to Baekhyun but the man standing beside him kicked him on the face, making Chanyeol crash on the floor and on his back. Chanyeol was beginning to pass out, he was almost on the verge on giving in to the phasing darkness he was seeing, but he held on. Baekhyun needed him, he would not let him be in danger.

Baekhyun did not understand what was happening. Why did Ho Jun hit him?

"Hold him" he said and two of the guards rushed to hold Baekhyun from both side.

He then waked over to Baekhyun and slapped him again.

"Do you think I am stupid?" he asked and Baekhyun looked at him confusingly. "Do you think you will walk in here with his drama and I will believe you?"

He laughed. "The Baekhyun I know will never agree to being with me. Do you think I will not see through your bullshit?"

Baekhyun closed his eyes. He had expected this to go a different way. His entire plan banked on it.

But he still did not lose hope.

Ho Jun then turned to Chanyeol and walked to him. 

"You know what Baekhyun?" he asked, looking at Baekhyun while holding Chanyeol by his hair. "I am glad you're here. Because now you will see him die"

"Nooo" Baekhyun yelled, trying to fight the men who were holding him. 

Ho Jun smiled. "And then I will kill you" he said, looking at Baekhyun.

"Please just let him go" Baekhyun pleaded but Ho Jun pursed his lips and shook his head.

"He knows about my child pornography business, he knows about my ledger. He was here when he saw congressmen Hong Jun Nam at my bar. Do you think I can spare him after that?"

"He is... not the only one I know about" Chanyeol said weakly and both Ho Jun and Baekhyun turned towards him.

"You have... the city's top politicians... and businessmen as your clients too" Chanyeol continued as he laid half dead on the floor.

"See" Ho Jun said, turning to Baekhyun. "He knows more than he should but the idiot won't' shut up. It's like he's inviting his own death"

Chanyeol smiled. "Even the top level officers... in the police are your pets" Chanyeol said boldly.

Ho Jun looked at him suspiciously. "You're smart" he said and walked over to the chair to pick up the ledger.

"Their names aren't even here" he said, waving the book at Chanyeol. "How did you know?"

Chanyeol smirked through his bloody face, eyelids getting heavier.

"It's not a coincidence... that they didn't find any evidence... when they raided you" he struggled. "It means... someone from the police... tipped you off" 

Every word he said was like a knife to the gut as Chanyeol's breathing got difficult. 

Ho Jun smiled. "That would be my regular client Cha Oh Seong, the commissioner of police"

He spoke like he was proud of the fact that a lot of top people in the city bowed down to him.

The more he spoke, the more disgusted Chanyeol and Baekhyun felt. 

"Why do you do this?" Baekhyun finally asked, "What do you get out of it?"

"What do I get out of it?" Ho Jun asked back, turning to Baekhyun. "What did I get when I tried to fuck you when you were 14? Pleasure." 

Chanyeol was drifting away when Ho Jun's words brought him back. His eyes widened as Baekhyun's closed his own. To Baekhyun, this felt humiliating. It was horrifying.

"You raped me" Baekhyun said, in a low voice, feeling the anger boiling inside of him. 

This was not the time to breakdown, Baekhyun knew it. It was time to accept his truth and move on.

"I was a kid. I never consented to anything, what you did was rape" he said with more conviction in his voice.

It didn't matter if Chanyeol or the world heard it. He didn't care anymore. He had been keeping this bottled up inside of him for ages. He was done feeling guilty over something that was not his fault. The more he accepted the demons that haunted him, the more free he felt. He didn't care if Chanyeol wouldn't love him after knowing the truth.

Chanyeol felt like every muscle in his body was betraying him. He wanted to fight, to kill Ho Jun, but even his mind had stopped working.

"You made me hate myself. You made me hate everything. I tried to kill myself almost every day because of you."

Ho Jun smiled. "But it was your fault Baekhyun. You didn't have to use words to tell me what your body wanted. And it wanted me"

Baekhyun gritted his teeth with anger that was on the verge of exploding. "I should have killed you that day" he said with rage in his eyes.

Ho Jun laughed. "I guess you should have, because then, you wouldn't see your boyfriend dying in front of you"

With that, Ho Jun pulled a gun from his back and drew it on Chanyeol's head.

"Goodbye Chanyeol"

In the next moment, a loud bang echoed through the air, killing every other noise in the world, including Baekhyun's screams. 

 


	50. Chapter 50

Baekhyun had no idea what had happened or what he was doing. But the moment he saw Ho Jun draw the gun out, something raw and animalistic rose inside of him. He found new strength in his muscles and with one jerk, he managed to free himself from the two guards that were holding him.

The moment he escaped their clutches, he ran faster than he ever had and rushed towards Ho Jun. Holding his hand by the wrist, Baekhyun pushed it up to the ceiling just as he fired the shot. It missed Chanyeol by an inch.

Baekhyun glanced at Chanyeol who was not conscious anymore and with a thump, he fell on the floor.

Baekhyun crashed Ho Jun's hand on his knees to make the gun fall away. The eight guards were now running towards him. Ho Jun tried to reach out to grab the gun again which was now on the far opposite of where Chanyeol was.

Before Ho Jun could walk towards the gun, Baekhyun caught his wrist.

"This is for kidnapping him" he said before twisting Ho Jun's wrist with an unnatural power, breaking the bones of that area.

"This is for hurting him" he said and punched Ho Jun on his abdomen.

Ho Jun screamed with blinding pain.

Two of the guards had managed to catch up to Baekhyun by then. One of them swung a wooden plank at him but Baekhyun managed to dodge it. The second tried to hit him in the guts but Baekhyun caught his hand before pulling him by his weight and flipping him to the ground.

Ho Jun writhed in pain from his broken wrist, but still tried to drag himself to where the gun was.

Baekhyun was being attacked by three guards now. He punched one of them on his gut with such force that blood gushed out from his mouth, rendering him useless.

When the other two tried to approach him with knives Baekhyun picked up the plank of wood and smashed it on one's head before turning around in a spiral and kicking the other one out.

Five useless bodies now lied on the floor. Watching Baekhyun beat everyone like a maniac, the remaining three guards scrammed.

Baekhyun finally turned to Ho Jun who was crawling his way to the gun. He slowly walked to him and pulled Ho Jun by his hair.

"By the time I am done with you, you will wish you were dead" Baekhyun said to him.

With those words, he punched Ho Jun on the face, making him curl to the ground.

Baekhyun lost all sense of understanding in that moment. He picked Ho Jun up and punched him again, making him fall back down.

"Get up you disgusting piece of fuck" Baekhyun said. His eyes were now red.

Baekhyun could have killed Ho Jun in that moment.

Despite all that, Ho Jun managed to get up on his own. He turned his eyes towards Chanyeol who laid on the floor senseless. Chanyeol could easily be dead. Then, Ho Jun smiled at Baekhyun.

It was the most maliciously filthy smile Baekhyun had ever seen. The look in Ho Jun eyes told Baekhyun that he had won and Baekhyun had lost.

In that moment, Baekhyun turned into a beast. He ran towards Ho Jun and punched him again. When he fell to the ground, Baekhyun rushed over and smashed his face repeatedly till he looked half dead.

"Baek..." a frail voice reached Baekhyun's ears and he suddenly stopped. Baekhyun turned around to see Chanyeol reaching out to him with his weak hands.

Baekhyun immediately left Ho Jun in the half dead state and ran over to Chanyeol. Baekhyun kneeled down and caught Chanyeol's head, pulling it up and little and resting it on his legs.

"Chanyeol" Baekhyun said through teary eyes. "I am so sorry Chanyeol"

"Shhh" Chanyeol said. It was becoming difficult for him to speak. "I... am glad.... you're.... safe Baekhyun"

Baekhyun was now unable to stop his tears from coming out.

"Just hold on a little longer Chanyeol" he said. "Please. Help is on it's way"

"I... am.... tired" Chanyeol whispered. "I just... want... to... sleep"

Chanyeol was breathing very heavily now. It was getting difficult for him to hold on.

"Please Chanyeol" Baekhyun pleaded through his tears. "Please hang on, for me"

Chanyeol opened his mouth to say something but nothing escaped except air.

Baekhyun shook him, trying to keep him awake but nothing was working. He did not know what to do anymore.

"Chanyeol... Wake..."

But Baekhyun did not complete his sentence because a voice interrupted him.

"You will both die today" Ho Jun's voice fell on Baekhyun's ears and he suddenly looked up.

He was standing a few feet away from them with the gun in his left hand, pointed at Chanyeol.

Without warning, he fired the shot but Baekhyun sensed it before he could do it and out of instinct, he jerked himself forward, trying to shied Chanyeol with his body.

In less than a fraction of second, he felt something hot pierce his skin from the back and exit from front.

Before Baekhyun could comprehend what had happened, another shot fired at him, making his entire body go in shock.

The last thing Baekhyun remembered before closing his eyes was holding Chanyeol's hand in his.

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun opened his eyes to everything faded around him. When his vision cleared, he saw everything was white. Slowly all his senses awakened one by one, starting with the sense of smell. He immediately registered that he was in the hospital.

_What happened?_

He was trying to figure out why he was in the hospital when he suddenly remembered. He was shot. He was expecting excruciating pain on his shoulders but nothing hit him. He raised his left hand to check for the wound on his right shoulder but there was nothing.

_What the fuck?_

Baekhyun did not understand. He clearly remembered being shot at by Ho Jun when he was trying to save...

_Chanyeol._

Baekhyun's memory flooded back when he suddenly got up from the bed and looked around. The room was empty. There was no one there. He could hear voices from outside and he recognised it.

"Kyungsoo" Baekhyun yelled, turning to get off the bed when the door opened and Kyungsoo stared at him.

"Baekhyun" he said in a soft yet startled voice. "You... you're awake?"

"Kyungsoo, where is Chanyeol?" he asked in urgency. "What happened? I remember I was shot, but why don't I have wounds? Where is Chanyeol? Is he outside?"

Baekhyun was becoming restless now.

"Is he okay? Is he still hurt?"

"Baekhyun" Kyungsoo said and Baekhyun could feel the remorse in his voice but he was not ready to accept it.

"WHERE IS CHANYEOL?" Baekhyun yelled, feeling himself standing on the verge of tearing up.

"Baekhyun" Kyungsoo said again, softly. "You've been in a coma for the past 2 months."

"I..." Baekhyun looked at Kyungsoo, trying to make sense of his words. "I've what?"

"Been a coma" Kyungsoo said. "One of the bullet hit you close to the spine. You've been lying on that bed for two months now. That's why you don't have wounds. They healed"

Baekhyun gave out a mad laugh. "That doesn't matter now, does it? I am awake." His voice grew more desperate. "Where is Chanyeol? Why aren't you answering me?"

"Is he in the next room?" Baekhyun got down the bed to find Chanyeol when Kyungsoo's hand rested on his shoulder.

"I think you should rest"

"JUST TELL ME WHERE THE FUCK CHANYEOL IS" Baekhyun was yelling without even realising he was doing that.

"Baekhyun" Kyungsoo said, his voice graver than before. "Chanyeol is not with us anymore"

As the words escaped Kyungsoo lips, Baekhyun found himself losing the strength he had build up just now. His knees gave out and he fell to the floor.

Kyungsoo rushed to him and held him by his arms to pull him up but Baekhyun did not move. He turned to Kyungsoo looked him straight in the eyes.

"Why... why didn't you save him?" he asked, suddenly finding that his words were betraying him. "I trusted you. I trust all of you."

"I am sorry" Kyungsoo said. Baekhyun felt like someone was pulling his heart right out of his chest cavity. Kyungsoo sunk to the floor right in front on Baekhyun.

"Get up" he said but Baekhyun hit him on the chest.

"You should have saved him" Baekhyun suddenly found himself crying. "You should have let me die and saved him. It is all my fault"

He felt like the world had stopped. Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing had any meaning.

Baekhyun kept hitting Kyungsoo on the chest.

"Why did you betray him?" Baekhyun asked through his tears. "Why did you leave him to die?"

The pain Baekhyun felt was unmatchable. Neither of the gun shots had hurt as much as this was hurting him.

"I treated him so bad Kyungsoo" Baekhyun said, looking at Kyungsoo, through his tears. "I always pushed him away. I should have spent the time accepting him, loving him, telling him what he means to me"

Baekhyun was now crying like the tears would never stop.

"He died because of me and I didn't even get to tell him what I felt"

Kyungsoo held Baekhyun close and patted him on his shoulder.

"Tell him now then. Tell him what you feel. I am sure he'll hear you no matter where he is"

Baekhyun sobbed through his words.

"I loved him Kyungsoo" Baekhyun said. "I loved him more than I loved anyone, more than I will ever love anyone"

Kyungsoo nodded. "Now say it like you would if Chanyeol was standing right here with you. You'll feel better"

"Chanyeol" Baekhyun said, looking into the air, still weeping. "I love you. I have always loved you. I am sorry for everything I did." Baekhyun broke down again.

Through sniffs and wet face, he managed to expressed himself one more time. "I am sorry for treating you so bad. Please come back" Baekhyun said, hiding his face in his palms. "I promise I will love you everyday and I will give you the love you deserve. Please come back"

"Fine" came a voice. "Only coz you promised"

Baekhyun suddenly stopped crying. The voice, it was....

_Chanyeol's._

Baekhyun blinked through his tears as the giant, his giant, walked through the door with a huge smile on his face.

Baekhyun did not understand. What had just happened? Just then Kris walked behind Chanyeol and Baekhyun saw him hand Kyungsoo a fat roll of cash.

"Told you I could make him confess his feeling for Chanyeol"

Baekhyun looked from Kyungsoo to Kris to Chanyeol. He then silently turned to his left and picked up the vase on the table before throwing it at Kyungsoo and Kris.

The moment they saw Baekhyun pick the vase up, they ran out the door, missing the hit by a fraction of second.

Baekhyun then turned to Chanyeol who stood there looking at him like he would never get to see him again. Baekhyun thanked god and everyone who would listen for keeping Chanyeol safe. But then he remembered the prank they had pulled.

"Do you think this is a fucking joke?" Baekhyun yelled at Chanyeol. "Do you have any idea of what I went through in those moments when I thought you were dead?"

Baekhyun was on the verge of crying again so Chanyeol rushed over to him and picked him in his arms before making him sit on the bed.

Chanyeol took Baekhyun's face in his hands before embracing him and hugging him like his life depended on it.

"I am sorry" he said. Those were the most sincere words Baekhyun had every heard because he could feel that Chanyeol was hurting too, by what Baekhyun had gone through.

Baekhyun pulled away. "I blamed myself for being alive. I thought it was my fault you were dead."

The moment Baekhyun said those words, Chanyeol placed his finger on his lips.

"Do not ever say that again" he said looking at Baekhyun. "Do not blame yourself for anything, especially my choices. Nothing that happened, right from the beginning to the end, was your fault Baekhyun"

These words by Chanyeol were something Baekhyun had been dying to hear all his life. These words by him were what saved Baekhyun from everything bad out there in the world.

Baekhyun basked in the glory of what Chanyeol's had said, for a moment.

After a while, he turned to Chanyeol.

"Have I really been in a coma?" he asked and Chanyeol nodded. "For two months"

Chanyeol took Baekhyun's hands in his own and kissed them.

"I thought I'd never see you smile again"

Baekhyun was still staring at Chanyeol, wondering how did he manage to get so lucky to have someone like Chanyeol in his life.

"What happened to Ho Jun?"

Chanyeol sighed and ran his fingers across Baekhyun's cheeks.

"He is in jail. Along with everyone who's name was on the ledger"

Baekhyun stared at him in surprise. "So the plan worked?"

Chanyeol nodded. "Just like you said, Suho hacked into every broadcasting station and replaced everything on air with the live feed. Not long after you were shot, Kris's brother came in with backup and everyone was caught one after the other"

Baekhyun was amazed. He still couldn't believe it had worked.

"What about you?" Baekhyun asked. "Are you okay?"

Chanyeol saw the softness in Baekhyun's eyes when he asked that question and he nodded.

"I am fine" he said. "Are you fine?" Chanyeol asked instead.

Baekhyun narrowed his eyebrows. "Yea" he said, looking all over his body. "I am good"

"That's not what I meant" Chanyeol said and Baekhyun understood.

"I don't know yet" he said. "I am hoping the nightmares don't return"

Chanyeol was silent for a moment and Baekhyun caught sense of it.

"What?" he asked. "What's bothering you now?"

Chanyeol sighed. "Baekhyun, if in case the nightmares return, you won't push me away this time, will you?"

Baekhyun shook his head. "I promise. I won't push you away"

Just these words brought out the brightest smile Baekhyun had seen on Chanyeol's face.

"And what about Dark Baekhyun?" Chanyeol asked.

Baekhyun shrugged. "I don't think he will come back now that that is no reason for him to"

Chanyeol pursed his lips and nodded.

"And if he ever does come out, you can use a secret weapon to bring me back"

Chanyeol looked confused. "What secret weapon?"

Baekhyun smiled. "Your voice" he said softly. "For some reason, the sound of you singing always brings me back"

Chanyeol laughed at the absurdity of it all but somehow it made sense to him. During his episodes of mad rage, it was Baekhyun's voice that had calmed him down.

He took Baekhyun's face in his hand a placed a kiss on his forehead.

Baekhyun then rested his forehead on Chanyeol's chest and they stayed in the comfortable silence for a while.

"Can you repeat what you told Kyungsoo?" Chanyeol suddenly asked, pulling up a bright smile.

Baekhyun looked at him in irritation. He knew exactly what Chanyeol wanted to hear.

"Do you want to be fucking dead?" he asked.

"You promised to love me me everyday if I came back" Chanyeol was now pouting sadly. "I came back, now you have to keep your promise"

Baekhyun shook his head. Why did Chanyeol behave like a 5 year old kid?

"Technically you never left so you coming back is invalid"

"Will you say it or not?" Chanyeol threatened lightly but Baekhyun was not the one to be messed with.

"I don't know what you're taking about" Baekhyun said nonchalantly.

Chanyeol crinkled his nose.

"Fine" he said, getting up. "I am leaving then"

Chanyeol proceeded to move away but before he could take a step further, Baekhyun grabbed him by his arms and turned him around.

Getting on his knees on the bed to match Chanyeol's height, Baekhyun slid his hands over Chanyeol's shoulders and softly pulled him down to crash his lips against Chanyeol's.

"Don't you dare leave me again" Baekhyun said in between the kisses they were sharing.

Chanyeol smiled. "Never"  


 

 

 

A week later when Baekhyun was discharged from the hospital, he entered his room to find it decorated in balloons and a big banner that said "Welcome back"

Baekhyun smiled and turned to Chanyeol who was standing beside him.

"You did this, didn't you?" Baekhyun asked.

Chanyeol put his hands up in the air. "I am not the only one who loves you"

Just then a couple of party poppers engulfed the air and a total of ten people came out from all corners of the room.

"Welcome home Baekhyun" they all shouted and Baekhyun smiled. This place had actually become his home.

They all sat together and ate and drank and talked like it was the time of their lives.

Baekhyun soon got tired.

"I need to lie down for a bit" he said and Chanyeol immediately got up.

"Leave" he said looking at everyone. "Baekhyun needs to rest"

"Gosh" Luhan cried. "Are you his bodyguard or something?"

Chanyeol scowled.

"No" Baekhyun said from the corner. "He's my boyfriend"

The moment Baekhyun said it, Chanyeol turned to look at Baekhyun in shock.

"What... what did you say?"

"I will not repeat it" Baekhyun replied immediately and turned his eyes away from Chanyeol.

The room came alive with the hoots and yells of everyone's approval.

"Get out now" Baekhyun yelled and everyone immediately got up to leave.

They all proceeded to the door when Baekhyun caught Chanyeol's hand.

"Not you" he said, trying to sound as stern as he could, but ended up speaking in a soft tone.

Chanyeol was in complete shock. What was happening? Did he just win the biggest lottery in the world?

Chanyeol turned to everyone else who were as shocked as Chanyeol was when he suddenly let out a grin.

"Out" he said. "My boyfriend needs me"

The rest of them cussed and scowled at the two of them for abandoning their friends but none of them cared. They just needed each other for a while. Chanyeol pushed everyone out and closed the door behind them.

He then turned around and faced Baekhyun who seemed nervous.

"Now what?" Chanyeol asked.

"This" Baekhyun said, rushing over to him and taking his lips in his own.

Chanyeol immediately picked Baekhyun up and the latter entangled his legs around the giant's waist.

Baekhyun was kissing Chanyeol like he would never get to kiss him again.

Chanyeol slowly walked over to the bed and laid Baekhyun down, getting on top of him.

Suddenly Baekhyun pulled away and stared into Chanyeol's eyes.

"I've been dying to kiss you for so long" he said and Chanyeol blinked. He was expecting Baekhyun to say something entirely different, but none the less, this was hot.

Baekhyun did not know how he had resisted Chanyeol all those times when all he wanted was to touch him, kiss him, feel his skin against his own. It seemed like it was ages ago when they hated each other and now Chanyeol was on his bed, on top of him, kissing him like nothing existed apart from them.

Chanyeol reached down and planted a kiss on Baekhyun's neck.

"I'm all yours" Chanyeol said and Baekhyun smiled.

For the first time in five years, Baekhyun felt happy.  
  
  


Baekhyun had gotten used to his new life with Chanyeol as his boyfriend. They would leave for classes together, holding hands throughout the hallways and Chanyeol would randomly turn to strangers they passed by and declare Baekhyun was his boyfriend.

In a few days, the entire school found out that him and Chanyeol were dating. Had it been anyone else, Baekhyun would have been embarrassed by all this public deceleration, but nothing Chanyeol did embarrassed him, ever.

They walked down the hall and stood outside Baekhyun's class that they didn't have in common.

Chanyeol was leaning against the wall and twisting his body while holding Baekhyun's hand in his.

"I miss you" Chanyeol said.

Baekhyun shook his head. "I am literally standing right in front of you"

"But soon you'll go in and then I won't see you until an hour later" Chanyeol whined.

"You're really a crybaby, aren't you?" Baekhyun mocked.

"I miss you" Chanyeol said again.

"Get the fuck out before I smash your face against the wall" Baekhyun threatened and Chanyeol suddenly smiled.

He stood straight before leaning down and planting a kiss on Baekhyun's lips.

"I love you" he yelled before he ran away, knowing he would get punched for kissing Baekhyun out in the open.

Baekhyun slowly walked to the class and sat next to Kyungsoo.

"What's with your face?" Kyungsoo asked.

"Soo" Baekhyun suddenly said, turning to him. "How do I tell him that I love him?"

"Well" Kyungsoo began. "You can write him a love letter..."

Baekhyun nodded. That seemed like a good idea.

"...In blood" Kyungsoo finished and Baekhyun looked at him in shock.

"What the fuck Soo?" Baekhyun asked.

Kyungsoo smiled. "It does not necessarily have to be your blood..."

Baekhyun closed his eyes and put his hand up to stop Kyungsoo from speaking.

"One day I would like to find out what goes in that mind of yours. But not today." Baekhyun said.

Kyungsoo shook his head. "Just keep it simple Baekhyun. He will appreciate it even if your write 'I love you' on a toilet paper and give it to him. He will probably frame it and keep it on the desk near his bed"

Baekhyun couldn't help but smile. Everyone knew how much Chanyeol loved Baekhyun. It was only fair Baekhyun showed him the same.

The next day, Chanyeol said he had to visit his home for a few hours. Things between him and his family had improved a lot since the entire episode with Ho Jun. So had the relationship between Baekhyun and his parents. His parents had no clue about what Ho Jun had done but the moment they found out, they begged Baekhyun for his forgiveness.

Things were finally okay.

The only thing left was Baekhyun's confession of love for Chanyeol.

He had been racking his brain to find ways to do this when suddenly he knew what he had to do.

Baekhyun immediately called all of his friends to his room to tell them what he had planned.

Chanyeol came back late at night. His parents had insisted he stay for dinner and Chanyeol couldn't refuse.

A little after 11, Chanyeol parked his car near the dorm and walked towards the building.

The moment he opened the door, he was met with the most pleasant surprise. The hallway had been lit with candles all the way through.

Chanyeol looked down and a small sign read 'Follow the light'

At first Chanyeol did not understand. He thought he had barged in on someone else's surprise. He never thought it was for him so he was a little apprehensive.

He walked a bit further and he saw another sign on the floor.

'Yes it's for you, you giant fuck'

Chanyeol immediately smiled. It was then he knew it was for him.

He followed the lights all the way and found himself standing outside the music room.

'Push' the sign on the door said and so Chanyeol pushed.

When the door opened, there was nothing inside the room except darkness.

For a second Chanyeol thought he was mistaken. He had come to the wrong place. But he had followed the lights and the signs just like it said.

He looked around but couldn't see anything in the darkness.

Suddenly the room lit up. Chanyeol couldn't believe what he was seeing. The ceiling of the room had been lit up with projection of galaxies and stars.

They moved in slow circles, like dancing to their own tune. This was exactly what Chanyeol had planned for Baekhyun. He knew then that they really were fated to be together.

Chanyeol looked around to find Baekhyun but he was not there.

In the next moment, Baekhyun's voice echoed from a distance.

"This is for you Chanyeol" Baekhyun said and suddenly a spotlight fell on him.

And with that, Baekhyun began...

**_"I carry your heart with me, I carry it in my heart"_ **

Chanyeol's eyes widened. It was his favorite poem. How did Baekhyun know about it?

Baekhyun continued.

 **_"I am never without it_ **  
**_anywhere I go you go, my dear_ **  
**_and whatever is done_ **  
**_by only me is your doing, my darling"_ **

Chanyeol's eyes moistened. He couldn't believe Baekhyun was doing all this for him. This place meant so much to him, so much to them. This is where they had shared their first kiss. And the fact that Baekhyun remembered it, overwhelmed Chanyeol a lot.

_**"I fear no fate for you are my fate, my sweet** _

_**I want no world for beautiful you are my world, my true** _  
_**and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant** _  
_**and whatever a sun will always sing is you"** _

Baekhyun walked over to Chanyeol and took his hand in his, looking him straight into his eyes.

 **_"Here is the deepest secret nobody knows_ **  
**_here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud_ **  
**_and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;_ **  
**_which grows_ ** **_higher than soul can hope or mind can hide_ **  
_**and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart** _

_**I carry your heart, I carry it in my heart"** _

Baekhyun smiled at Chanyeol.

"Baekhyun" Chanyeol said, he was trying to hold back the tears that were choking him.

Placing his hand on Chanyeol's cheek, Baekhyun pulled him down and little and tiptoed a little to place a soft kiss on his forehead.

"I love you Park Chanyeol"

Chanyeol smiled through the tears that were now falling down his cheeks.

"I love you too Baek"

Unable to believe his fate, Chanyeol stared at this miraculous boy that stood before him and wondered how he had managed to have found him.

"Kiss already" a few voices yelled and Chanyeol turned to see all of their friends were there too.

Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun in confusion. He knew Baekhyun did not like to be kissed in front of others. He hesitated and was about to refuse when Baekhyun caught him by his cheeks and pulled him down to kiss him like he had never been kissed before.

Chanyeol smiled through the kiss thinking how Baekhyun was the one who had saved him from his wretched life, unaware of the fact that instead, they had both been each other's saviors.

****THE END****

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So finally we have reached the end of this fic. 
> 
> Writing this was a rollercoaster (cue SeChan's mini album) ride and although I know it has its flaws (the fic, not the Mini Album. SeChan are perfect), it is particularly special to me.
> 
> I know how frustrated Baek would have made you at times and trust me I wanted to drive through a wall each time I made him choose stupid logic over love but I hope the end makes up for it.
> 
> I genuinely hope you liked reading it. 
> 
> LOVE!!!

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me here  
> [Twitter ](https://www.twitter.com/yeolallineedffs)  
> [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/yeolallineed)  
> [Youtube ](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Va8jttSMhdbHmIyslCjLg/videos)


End file.
